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NOTIC  ES 


or  THE 


ENGLISH  COLLEGES  *  CONVENTS 


ESTABLISHED  ON  THE  CONTINENT 


AFTER   THE    DISSOLUTION   OF 


RELIGIOUS  HOUSES  IN  ENGLAND. 


BX 


'J'HP:    I^ATE   HON.  EDWARD   PETRE. 


THE   REV.  F.  C.  HTJSENBETH. 


"  Gohiff  they  went  and  wejA,  casting  their  seeds.     Bid  coming  they  shall  come 
'  with  joyfidness,  airrying  their  sheavcsr — PsAiM  CXXT.  7,  8. 


KortoitI; : 

BACO^'       AND       KINNEBI?OOK, 
MDCCCXLIX. 


ire' 'S  ■;!A>' ,  (7- 


^^^V^  »'•">" 


CONTENTS. 


PREFATOUT  NOTICE 


PAGE 

iv 


ESTABLISHMENTS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  SECULAR  CLERGY. 

1.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  DOUAY 1 

11.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  ROME       5 

ni.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  VALLi\J)OLID 8 

rV.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  SEVILLE 11 

v.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  MADRID             12 

VL— RESEDENCE  OF  ENGLISH  CLERGY  AT  ST.  LUCAR     ...  13 

Vn.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  ST.  OMER           15 

Vm.— THE  SCHOOL  AT  ESQUERCHIN      16 

IX.— THE  SEMINARY  AT  PARIS 17 

X.— THE  COLLEGE  AT  LISBON 18 


ESTABLISHMENTS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  SECULARS. 
Religious  Men. 

L— ENGLISH  BENEDICTINS. 

1.  Benedictin  Priory  and  College  at  Douay 

2.  Bexedictin  Priory  at  Dieulouard  

3.  Benebictin  Priory  at  St.  Malo 

4.  Bejsebictin  Priory  at  Pasis  

5.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Lansperg,  or  Lambspring 

6.  Other  Benediciln  Establishmejn'ts  in  Germany 


24 
27 
30 
31 
32 
34. 


1457538 


iv 

CONTENTS. 

II.- 

-  ENGLISH  CARMELITES. 

Barefooted  Carmelites  at  Toxgres       

35 

III.- 

■  ENGLISH  CARTHUSIANS. 

Carthusian  Convent  at  Nieuport          

36 

IV.— 

ENGLISH  CISTERCIANS. 

Cistercian  Monks  of  La  Trappe             

39 

V.- 

ENGLISH  DOMLXICANS, 

1.  Dominican  Convent  and  College  at  Bornheim 

41 

3.  Dominican  College  at  Loutain 

43 

VI.- 

ENGLISH  FRANCISCANS. 

Convent  op  Franciscan  Recollects  at  Douat... 

44 

VII.- 

ENGLISH  JESUITS. 

1.  Jesuit  College  at  St.  Omer          

46 

2.  Jesuit  Noviciate  at  Watten          

47 

3.  Jesuit  College  at  Liege     

49 

4.  Jesuit  Professed  House  at  Ghent         

50 

Religious  Women. 

I.- 

-  AUGUSTINIAN  NUNS. 

1.  Canonesses  op  St.  Augustin  at  Louvain 

52 

2.  Canonesses  of  St.  Augustin  at  Bruges 

54 

3.  Canonesses  of  St.  Augustin  at  Paris 

56 

4.  Canonesses  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Liege 

58 

U.- 

-BENEDICTIN  NUNS. 

1.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Brussels     

60 

2.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Cambray      

62 

3.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Ghent          

65 

■i.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Lansperg,  or  Lambspring 

68 

5.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Paris           

69 

6.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Pontoise     

71 

7.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Dunkirk      

72 

8.  Benedictin  Abbey  at  Ipres           

76 

ni. 

—  BRIDGETTINS. 

Brldgettin  Convent  of  Sion  House       

77 

CONTENTS. 


IV.—  POOR  CLi^ES,  OR  FRANCISCANS. 

1.  Convent  of  Poor  Clares  at  Gravelines           si 

2.  Convent  of  Poor  Clares  at  Dunkirk 84 

3.  Convent  of  Poor  Clares  at  Aire           86 

4.  Convent  of  Poor  Clares  at  Rouen         88 

5.  Nuns  of  tue  Third  Order  of  St.  Pkancis  at  Bruges  90 
G.  Nuns  of  the  Conception,  or  Blue  Ki/ns,  at  Paris       ...  91 

v.—  DOMINICANESSES. 

Convent  of  Dominicanesses  at  Brussels          94 

VI—  JESUITESSES. 

Convent  of  Jesuitesses,  or  Wardists,  at  St.  Omer  ...  98 

VII.—  TERESIANS  OR  CARMELITE  NUNS. 

1.  Convent  of  Teresians  at  Antwerp         100 

2.  Convent  of  Teresians  at  Lierre             101 

3.  Convent  of  Teresians  at  Hoogstraet 103 

CONCLUSION           104 


PREFATORY   NOTICE. 


The  following  accounts  were  written  at  the  request  of  the  late 
HoNBLE.  Edward  Petre,  who  had  collected  some  materials 
and  made  various  notes  for  the  purpose.  He  had  felt  a  lively 
interest  in  the  remains  of  our  Religious  Establishments  on  the 
Continent,  and  was  anxious  to  preserve  what  information  could 
he  collected  respecting  them.  He  had  also  considered  that  the 
particulars  of  their  history  had  never  been  presented  to  the 
public  in  a  collected  form,  nor  indeed  in  some  instances  ever 
printed.  This  little  work  was  completed  before  the  death  of 
its  lamented  originator,  and  had  met  his  entire  approval.  It  is 
now  therefore  given  to  the  public,  in  full  confidence  that  to 
the  English  Catholic  especially,  its  details,  however  slight  and 
imperfect,  will  not  fail  to  prove  precious  and  attractive. 

F.  C.  HUSENBETH. 
Cossey,  December  8th,  1848. 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTICE. 

ENGLISH   VIRGINS 

OF   THE 

INSTITUTE  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN   MARY. 

In  the  notice  of  the  Jesuitesses  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  it  is  erroneously  stated  that  the  community  at 
St.  Mary's  Convent,  Micklegate  Bar,  York,  are  a 
filiation  from  those  ladies,  whose  institute  was  con- 
demned and  abolished  by  Pope  Urban  VIII,  in  1630. 
The  statement  was  made  on  the  authority  of  a  former 
writer  of  eminence ;  but  he  was  evidently  mistaken ; 
and  in  justice  to  the  highly  respectable  and  edifying 
community  at  York,  the  earliest  opportunity  is  here 
gladly  taken  to  declare  them  disconnected  totally  with 
the  above-mentioned  establishment,  known  by  the 
names  of  Jesuitesses,  Wardists,  and  other  appellations. 

The  English  Virgins  of  the  Institute  of  the  B.V.  Mary 
were  originally  established  at  Munich  in  the  17th 
century.  Pope  Clement  XI.  in  his  Constitution 
Inestimahile,  dated  June  13,  1703,  speaks  of  them  as 
having  been  "  long  ago"  received  and  provided  for  by 
Maximilian,  Duke  and  first  Prince  Elector  of  Bavaria; 


ENGLISH  VIRGINS. 


and  as  noble  English  ladies,  who  had  fled  from  the 
persecution  in  their  own  country.  This  Pope  in  the 
said  Constitution  solemnly  confirms  and  approves  of 
their  rule.  Afterwards  this  Institute  of  "  English 
Virgins"  was  again  approved  by  Pope  Benedict  XIV., 
who  distinctly  declares  that  they  are  not  the  Institute 
of  Jesuitesses,  whose  suppression  by  Urban  VIII.  his 
Holiness  declares  to  remain  in  full  force,  forbids  any 
one  to  maintain  that  the  suppressed  Jesuitesses  were 
restored  by  the  Bull  of  Clement,  and  declares  that  the 
"  English  Virgins"  approved  by  Clement  and  himself 
may  not  in  any  manner  acknowledge  Mary  Ward  to 
have  been  their  foundress. 

This  Community  settled  at  York  as  early  as  the  year 
1686 ;  their  superioress  at  that  time  being  Mrs.  Frances 
Bedingfeld.  It  has  stood  out  every  storm  of  per- 
secution and  bigoted  opposition,  and  was  for  many 
years  the  only  Convent  in  England.  By  a  rescript  of 
Pope  Pius  VII.,  in  1816,  on  the  petition  of  the  Com- 
munity forwarded  by  Bp.  W.  Gibson,  it  was  released 
from  obedience  to  the  general  superioress  at  Munich, 
and  placed  exclusively  under  obedience  to  the  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  the  District. 


ACCOUNTS 

OF 

THE    ENGLISH   COLLEGES   AND  CONVENTS 

ESTABLISHED  ON  THE  CONTINENT,  ETC. 

iS0tat)U0t)ment0  of  tt)e  Secular  Clergp. 

I. 

THE  ENGLISH  COLLEGE  AT  DOUAY. 

To  perpetuate  the  succession  of  the  Catholic  clergy, 
at  a  time  when  a  total  extinction  of  the  ancient  faith 
was   apprehended   in   England,   William   Allen,   after- 
wards doctor   of  divinity,  cardinal   and   archbishop   of 
Mechlin,  formed  the  project  of  establishing  colleges  for 
the  education  of  the  clergy  on  the  Continent.     Having 
drawn    together    many   learned    men,   who   had   been 
educated  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  a  college,  or  seminary  at  Douay,   in  Flanders. 
Mr.  Morgan  Philips,  who  had  been  Provost  of  Oriel, 
and  formerly  Allen's   master,   purchased  a  convenient 
house  for  the  establishment.     Contributions  were  made 
by  Allen  and  several  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  further 
aid  was  obtained  from  England.     Three  neighbouring 


DOUAY  COLLEGE. 


abbeys  of  Benedictins,  the  university  of  Douay,  and 
other  communities  assisted,  and  collections  were  made 
in  Douay,  and  the  neighbouring  towns.  It  was  opened 
in  1568,  and  in  a  few  years  the  number  of  its  inmates 
amounted  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  ;  of  whom,  eight  or 
nine  were  eminent  doctors  of  divinity.  The  under- 
taking was  applauded  by  the  Holy  See,  and  Pope  St. 
Pius  V.  wrote  an  encouraging  letter  to  its  founder. 
His  successor,  Gregory  XIII.  being  informed  of  the 
state  of  the  college,  and  having  received  a  strong 
recommendation  of  it  from  the  Catholic  nobility  and 
gentry  of  England,  as  well  as  from  the  university  of 
Douay,  and  several  religious  communities,  settled  upon 
the  new  establishment  in  1575  an  annual  pension  of 
1200  Roman  crovms,  and  soon  afterwards  raised  it  to 
2000 ;  which  sum  was  always  regularly  paid,  and  was 
almost  the  only  certain  revenue  of  the  college. 

Douay  College  was  not  only  the  first  of  the  English 
nation,  but  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  in  the 
Christian  world,  instituted  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  After  it  had  sent 
fifty-two  priests  to  labour  in  the  English  mission,  the 
tumults  of  the   Low   Countries  in  1578,   obliged  the 


DOUAY   COLLEGE. 


seminary  to  remove  from  Douay,  then  under  the 
dominion  of  Spain,  to  Rheims,  in  France.  The  real 
instigator  of  the  proceedings  against  the  college  was 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Two  or  three  persons  however 
remained,  and  kept  possession  of  the  house,  for  fifteen 
years,  when  the  college  was  invited  by  the  magistrates 
to  return  to  Douay,  in  1593.  At  Rheims  their  num- 
bers increased ;  and  twelve  more  priests  were  sent  out 
in  the  same  year  of  their  removal  thither,  who  were 
followed  by  twenty  more  in  the  succeeding  year  1579. 
In  a  little  time,  there  were  two  hundred  persons  belong- 
ing to  the  establishment  at  Rheims.  They  returned 
to  Douay  in  1593,  and  continued  for  two  centuries  to 
supply  priests  to  the  English  mission.  Douay  college 
produced  one  cardinal,  two  archbishops,  thirty  one 
bishops  and  bishops  elect,  three  archpriests,  about  one 
hundred  doctors  of  divinity,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
nine  writers,  many  eminent  men  of  religious  orders, 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty  glorious  martyrs,  besides 
innumerable  others,  who  either  died  in  prison,  or  suf- 
fered confinement  or  banishment  for  their  faith.  Many 
also  of  our  Catholic  nobility  and  gentry  received  their 
education  at  Douay  college ;  among  whom,  it  is  highly 


DOUAY  COLLEGE. 


gratifying  to  record  the  noble  name  of  the  late  lamented 
Bernard  Edward,  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  1793,  the  college  of  Douay 
was  seized  by  the  French ;  and  its  inmates  were  con- 
veyed prisoners  to  the  citadel  of  Dourlens.  There  they 
remained  till  the  24th  of  November,  1794,  when  they 
obtained  permission  to  return  to  Douay,  being  twenty 
six  in  number.  They  were  still  prisoners  in  the  Irish 
College,  but  under  less  restraint.  In  the  following 
February,  they  were  set  at  liberty,  and  arrived  in 
England  on  the  2nd  of  March,  1795.  These  last 
residents  at  Douay  College  became  the  founders  and 
first  members  of  the  several  colleges  of  Old  Hall  Green, 
Ushaw,  and  Oscott,  which  were  all  established  shortly 
after  the  dissolution  of  Douay  College,  and  the  return 
of  its  inmates  to  their  native  land.  The  following  is  a 
list  of  the  presidents  of  the  English  College  at  Douay 
from  its  first  foundation. 

Dr.  James  Smith     ....  1682 

Dr.  Edward  Paston      .     .    .  1688 

Dr.  Robert  Witham    .    .    .  1714 

Dr.  William  Thornburgh     .  1738 

Dr.  William  Green      .    .    .  1750 

Mr.  Henry  Tichborne  Blount  1770 

Mr.  William  Gibson   .     .     .  1781 

Mr.  Edward  Kitchen  .    .     .  1790 

Mr.  John  Daniel     ....  1792 


Dr.  William  Allen  .     .     . 

1568 

Dr.  Richard  Barrett    .    . 

1588 

Dr.  Thomas  Worthington 

1599 

Dr.  Matthew  Kellison      . 

1613 

Mr.  George  Musket    .    . 

1641 

Dr.  William  Hyde  .     .    . 

1646 

Dr.  George  Leyburn  .     . 

1652 

Mr.  John  Leyburn  .     .     . 

1670 

Dr.  Francis  Gage    .    .    . 

1676 

ROMAN   COLLEGE, 


II. 


THE    ENGLISH    COLLEGE   AT    ROME. 

The  English  College  at  Rome  was  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Douay,  whence  it  received  its  first  members.  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.  whose  attention  had  long  been  turned  to 
the  distressed  state  of  religion  in  England,  conceived  the 
idea  of  establishing  a  college  in  Rome  for  the  English 
nation.  He  consulted  Dr.  Allen,  Dr.  Owen  Lewis, 
archdeacon  of  Cambray,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Cas- 
sano,  Dr.  Goldwell,  bishop  of  St.  Asaph's,  and  others  of 
the  English  clergy,  who  earnestly  recommended  the  pro- 
ject. The  Pope  accordingly  converted  the  Hospital  of 
St.  Thomas  into  a  college,  for  the  education  of  secular 
priests  for  the  English  mission.  Dr.  Maurice  Clenock,  a 
secular  priest,  and  bishop  elect  of  Bangor,  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Mary,  who  was  the  last  Warden  of  St.  Thomas' 
Hospital,  was  appointed  by  his  Holiness,  the  first  rector  of 
the  new  Roman  College.  This  was  in  1578,  and  in  the 
year  following,  the  Pope  issued  the  Bull  of  its  founda- 
tion, for  fifty  students;  giving  them  the  hospital  and 
two  contiguous  houses,  the  church  of  the  B.  Trinity  and 
St.  Thomas,  an  annual  pension  of  6000  crowns,  and  all 


ROMAN    COLLEGE. 


the  property  of  the  hospitah  At  the  command  of  his 
Holmess,  the  first  students  were  sent  by  Dr.  Allen  from 
the  college  then  at  Rheims.  Dr.  Clenock  presided  over 
the  Roman  college  only  about  a  year,  when  he  was 
removed  to  make  way  for  an  Italian  Jesuit,  F.  Agarrazio ; 
and  not  long  after,  the  sole  government  of  the  college 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English  Jesuits,  under  whom 
it  continued  till  the  suppression  of  the  Society  by  Pope 
Clement  XIV.  in  1773. 

The  college  was  then  administered  by  Monsignor 
Foggini,  and  other  Italian  priests.  Repeated  memorials 
and  petitions  were  presented  from  England,  for  the 
restoration  of  the  college  to  the  English  secular  clergy. 
These  however  were  unsuccessful,  and  the  college  was 
rendered  almost  useless  to  the  English  mission.  In  1798 
the  college  was  seized  by  the  French,  under  Bertier, 
and  remained  closed  for  twenty  years.  At  length,  in 
1817,  on  the  death  of  Cardinal  Braschi,  the  protector, 
who  had  taken  possession  of  the  college  and  its  revenues, 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Rome,  the  Rector 
of  the  Scotch  college,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Macpherson,  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Lingard,  who  was  then  at  Rome,  waited  on 
the  Secretary  of  State,  Cardinal  Consalvi,  and  explained 


ROMAN  COLLEGE. 


to  him  the  original  object  of  the  establishment,  its 
failure  under  Italian  superiors,  and  the  increasing  wants 
of  the  English  mission.  Repeated  memorials  had  been 
previously  sent  from  the  Vicars  Apostolic  in  England. 
The  result  was,  that  Cardinal  Consalvi  procured  the 
re-establishment  of  the  college  by  Pope  Pius  VII.  and 
may  justly  be  regarded  as  its  second  founder.  The  Rev. 
Robert  Gradwell,  afterwards  bishop  of  Lydda,  and  coad- 
jutor in  the  London  District,  was  appointed  rector,  on 
the  8th  of  March,  1818.  A  colony  often  students  soon 
after  arrived  from  England;  and  the  revived  college 
flourished  exceedingly  under  its  new  rector.  In 
1827,  it  contained  thirty  students.  In  1828,  Dr. 
Gradwell  was  appointed  coadjutor  to  Dr.  Bramston; 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  rectorship  by  Dr.  Wiseman. 
When  he  also  returned  to  England,  in  1840,  as  coadjutor 
to  Dr.  Walsh,  in  the  Central  District,  Dr.  Baggs  suc- 
ceeded to  the  administration  of  the  college.  He  became 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  Western  District  in  1844,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Grant,  the  present  superior  of  the 
Roman  college.  This  establishment  in  its  fixst  days, 
furnished  besides  other  labourers,  forty -four  generous 
martyrs,  who  were  put  to  death  for  the   discharge  of 


VALLADOLID    COLLEGE. 


their  duties  in  England ;  and  since  its  second  founda- 
tion, it  has  sent  many  able  and  zealous  missioners  to 
labour  in  their  own  country.  Its  revenue  is  about 
£1500  a  year. 

III. 
THE  ENGLISH  COLLEGE  AT  VALLADOLID. 

The  college  of  Douay  having  been  obliged  to  remove 
to  Rheims,  was  not  without  apprehensions  even  there, 
from  the  disturbed  state  of  France.  The  rector  of  the 
English  college  at  Rome  at  that  time,  was  the  Jesuit 
Father  Persons;  who  wrote  thence  to  Dr.  Allen,  the 
founder  of  Douay  college,  to  suggest  the  expediency  of 
providing  further  resources  for  the  supply  of  priests  to 
the  English  mission,  in  case  the  college  at  Rheims 
should  be  disturbed.  Three  students  were  hereupon 
sent  from  Rheims  to  Spain,  to  endeavour  to  form  an 
establishment  in  that  country.  They  landed  at  Corunna, 
in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1589,  and  after  many  difficul- 
ties arrived  at  Valladolid.  Here  they  were  entirely 
unknown  ;  but  accidentally  fell  in  with  two  Englishmen, 
who  were  pursuing  their  studies  in  the  town.  They 
lodged  with  these,  and  for  some  time  frequented  the 


VALLADOLID   COLLEGE. 


public  schools.  Their  slender  means  of  subsistence 
were,  however,  soon  exhausted,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  depend  for  three  months'  further  support  upon  the 
generous  charity  of  a  nobleman  in  the  town,  Don  Alfonso 
de  Quinones.  But  F.  Persons  had  learned  their  adven- 
tures and  distresses,  and  proceeded  to  Spain  to  exercise 
his  zeal  and  industry  in  their  behalf.  He  had  collected 
some  funds  for  them  from  the  Duchess  of  Feria,  Sir 
Francis  Englefield  and  others ;  and  he  at  once  removed 
the  students  from  their  inconvenient  lodging  to  a  house 
which  he  hired,  and  which  afterwards  became  the  college 
of  St.  Alban.  He  next  drew  up  rules  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  new  establishment,  gave  the  students  an 
academical  dress,  and  saw  the  college  settled  in  regular 
form  before  Michaelmas  of  the  same  year,  1589.  F. 
Persons  soon  after  appointed  Father  Ceciliano  a  Jesuit, 
first  rector  of  the  new  college  of  Valladolid.  In  the  next 
year,  he  altered  and  enlarged  the  house,  which  he  had 
at  first  only  rented,  but  had  been  enabled  to  purchase, 
by  the  liberality  of  the  nobleman  above  mentioned. 
Other  contributions  were  received  for  the  support  of  the 
new  college  ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  F. 
Persons  obtained  of  the  Spanish  government  a  perma- 

B 


nent  pension  settled  on  the  establishment,  of  sixteen 
hundred  crowns;  which  was  made  up  to  four  thousand 
by  various  contributions  of  nobility,  gentry,  and  clergy, 
including  one  thousand  annually  from  the  bishop  of 
Jaen,  and  a  like  sum  bequeathed  by  the  archbishop 
of  Toledo.  The  establishment  of  the  seminary  was 
approved  and  confirmed  by  a  Bull  of  Pope  Clement 
VIII.  in  1592.  Twenty  more  students  were  sent  thither 
from  Rheims  in  1590,  having  been  preceded  by  three 
priests  from  the  Roman  college,  and  three  also  from 
Rheims.  The  first  rector,  F.  Ceciliano,  was  recalled  by 
the  King  of  Spain  to  Madrid  early  in  the  same  year ; 
and  was  succeeded  by  F.  de  Guzman. 

The  college  of  Valladolid  supplied  several  glorious 
martyrs,  among  the  missionary  priests  executed  for 
their  faith  in  England.  In  the  year  1605,  the  revenues 
obtained  from  the  Court  of  Spain  amounted  to  4000 
crowns  annually. 

When  the  English  colleges  at  Madrid,  Seville,  and 
Valladolid  were  restored  to  the  secular  clergy,  on  the 
suppression  of  the  Jesuits  in  Spain,  in  1767,  Bishop 
Challoner  united  them  all  at  Valladolid,  and  appointed 
Dr.  Perry  the  first  president. 


SEVILLE   COLLEGE.  11 


IV. 

THE    ENGLISH    COLLEGE    AT    SEVILLE. 

The  English  college  of  St.  Gregory,  at  Seville,  was 
founded  by  the  zeal  and  labours  of  Father  Persons,  on 
the  25th  of  November,  1592,  assisted  and  favoured  by 
the  Cardinal  Rodrigo  de  Castro,  Don  F.  de  Caravajal, 
and  the  Conde  de  Pliego.     The  bishop  of  Jaen  gave  an 
annual  sum  of  1000  crowTis  to  this  college,  while  he 
lived,   as  he  did   also   to   the  seminary  of  Valladolid. 
Many  others  of  the  Spanish  nobility,  clergy,  and  gentry 
countenanced  the  establishment,  and  contributed  very 
liberally  towards  its  support.    Its  first  rector  was  Father 
Francis  Peralta,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.     The  college 
was  first  begun  in  the  Calle  de  la  Surpe,  but  a  more 
commodious  house  was  purchased  after  many  difficulties 
for  7000  crowns,  and  the  members  of  the  seminary  came 
to  dwell  in  it,  October  4,  1595.     Pope  Clement  VIIJ. 
confirmed  the  establishment,  and  favoured  it  with  ample 
privileges,  by  a  brief  on  the   15th  of  May,  1594.     A 
church  was  built  for  the  college  by  the  liberality  of  a 
pious  widow  and  her  two  brothers,   and  dedicated  with 
great  solemnity  on  St.  Andrew's  day,  1598.    The  house 


12 


MADRID  COLLEGE. 


was  subsequently  enlarged,  and  four  lesser  houses  added 
to  it,  as  also  a  commodious  garden  made,  with  a  stream 
of  water  through  it,  from  a  fountain  bestowed  on  the 
college  by  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia.  The  church 
historian  Dodd  observes  that  the  revenues  of  this 
college  having  been  very  precarious,  it  never  made  any 
extraordinary  appearance.  Some  few  however  of  the 
missionary  priests  who  suffered  for  the  faith  in  England 
were  educated  at  Seville,  as  William  Richardson,  alias 
Anderson,  executed  at  Tyburn,  1603  ;  and  Thomas 
Reynolds,  alias  Green,  at  Tyburn,  1642.  When  the 
Jesuits  were  suppressed  in  Spain,  in  1767,  the  college 
at  Seville  was  restored  to  the  secular  clergy,  and  united 
by  Bishop  Challoner  to  that  of  Valladolid. 

V. 


THE    ENGLISH    COLLEGE   AT    MADRID. 

This  was  a  small  community  of  English  clergy  esta- 
blished at  Madi-id,  through  the  interest  of  F.  Persons  at 
the  Court  of  Spain,  and  called  St.  George's.  Its  means 
of  support  became  sufficiently  ample,  by  the  generous 
donations  of  the  citizens,  as  well  as  of  an  Italian  gentle- 
man resident  in  Madrid.    But,  it  never  prospered  to  any 


ST.  LUCAR'S   ESTABLISHMENT.  13 


extent.  It  had  but  few  English  students,  probably 
owing  in  part  to  the  uncongenial  climate,  subject  to  the 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold ;  which  was  one  of  the  reasons 
assigned  for  aggregating  it  to  the  English  college  of  St. 
Alban  at  Valladolid,  situated  in  a  more  healthy  part  of 
Spain.  This  was  effected  by  Bishop  Challoner,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  Dr.  Perry,  the  first  secular  rector 
of  St.  Alban 's  at  Valladolid,  after  it  came  into  the 
hands  of  the  secular  clergy,  upon  the  suppression  of  the 
Jesuits  in  Spain  in  the  year  1767.  The  property  of  St. 
George's  college  in  Madrid  lay  chiefly  in  houses,  which 
were  sold  for  profitable  investment  in  lands  near  Valla- 
dolid. Dr.  Perry  died  in  Madrid  shortly  after  this 
exchange  was  effected;  and  thus  ended  all  connexion 
with  the  English  college  at  Madrid. 

VI. 

RESIDENCE  OF  THE  ENGLISH  CLERGY  AT 
ST,  LUCAR. 

Besides  the  English  colleges  in  Spain,  there  was  an 
establishment  for  the  secular  clergy  at  St.  Lucar,  near 
Seville.  It  rose  out  of  a  confraternity  of  English  mer- 
chants, resident  in  the  town,  who  erected  a  church  and 


14  ST,  LUCAR'S   ESTABLISHMENT. 


house  for  the  accommodation  of  their  countrymen,  on 
land  granted  them  by  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia. 
This  was  in  the  year  1517  ;  and  the  estabHshment 
flourished  for  upwards  of  seventy  years.  A  certain 
number  of  Enghsh  chaplains  officiated  in  the  church, 
and  the  members  found  the  institution  highly  useful 
and  advantageous.  But  war  with  England,  and  the 
consequent  decay  of  commerce  so  affected  the  establish- 
ment, that  in  1591,  the  fraternity  conveyed  the  church, 
house,  lands,  and  property  to  the  English  secular  clergy 
for  ever.  They  gave  it  as  a  residence  for  as  many  chap- 
lains as  the  funds  would  support.  All  vacancies  were 
to  be  filled  up  by  the  Catholic  bishops  of  London, 
Winchester,  or  Exeter.  They  appointed  cardinal  Allen 
to  act  as  visitor ;  and  after  his  death,  the  Jesuit  provin- 
cial of  Andalusia  ;  but  specially  provided  that  neither 
he,  nor  any  other  religious  should  pretend  to  any  right 
to  the  church  or  house,  or  any  thing  in  them,  but  only 
to  do  them  a  good  work,  out  of  charity,  for  the  better 
life  and  manners  of  the  president  and  chaplains.  This 
grant  was  confirmed  by  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia, 
and  the  cardinal  archbishop  of  Seville.  A  body  of  rules 
was  drawn  up,  binding  the  chaplains  to  receive  and  for- 


ST.  OMER'S   COLLEGE.  16 


ward  on  their  journey,  any  priests  proceeding  from  the 
seminaries  in  Spain  to  the  EngHsh  mission. 

VII. 
THE  ENGLISH  COLLEGE  AT  ST.  OMEK. 

This  was  originally  a  Jesuit  college ;  and  was  founded 
by  F.  Persons  in  1594.  It  was  at  first  intended  for  the 
reception  of  only  sixteen  youths ;  for  whose  support  the 
king  of  Spain  allowed  160  ducats  a  month.  This  sum 
was  afterwards  increased,  and  the  number  of  students 
regulated  by  the  discretion  of  the  fathers  of  the  society. 

On  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  France,  the 
English  Jesuits  shared  the  fate  of  their  brethren.  The 
college  of  St.  Omer  then  came  into  the  hands  of  the 
secular  clergy,  in  1764.  Its  second  president  was  the 
celebrated  Alban  Butler,  in  1766;  in  which  office  that 
venerable  man  continued  till  his  pious  death  in  1773. 
The  college  of  St.  Omer  was  seized  at  the  French  revo- 
lution, and  its  members  confined  at  Arras,  in  three 
different  places.  In  May,  1794,  they  were  transferred 
to  the  citadel  of  Dourlens,  and  became  fellow-prisoners 
with  their  countrymen  from  Douay  college.  Rey. 
Gregory  Stapleton  was  their  president.     One  of  their 


professors,  the  Rev.  Richard  Brettargh,  died  under  the 
hardships  of  imprisonment.  They  were  recalled  to  St. 
Omer  in  the  latter  part  of  October  following,  and  left 
Dourlens,  sixty-four  in  number.  On  their  return  to 
St.  Omer,  they  were  confined  in  the  French  college, 
adjoining  their  own.  At  length,  in  the  following  year, 
1795,  they  were  set  at  liberty,  and  returned  to  England. 
They  arrived  under  the  conduct  of  their  president,  Mr. 
Stapleton,  at  Old  Hall  Green,  on  the  15th  of  Auo-ust. 
After  a  few  years,  Mr.  Stapleton  was  appointed  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  the  Midland  District,  and  Dr.  Paynter 
succeeded  him  as  president  of  St.  Edmund's  college, 
Old  Hall  Green,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1801. 

VIII. 

SCHOOL    AT   ESQUERCHIIS. 

This  was  a  small  establishment  at  the  village  of 
Esquerchin,  three  miles  from  Douay,  and  belonging  to 
that  college.  It  was  founded  about  the  year  1750,  by 
the  Hon.  James  Talbot,  afterwards  V.  A.  of  the  Lon- 
don district,  as  a  school  for  boys  of  the  lower  classes.  It 
shared  the  fate  of  Douay  college,  to  which  it  belonged. 
It  was  entered  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  October, 


PARIS    SEMINARY.  17 


1793,  by  a  commissary  of  the  district  of  Douay,  the 
mayor  of  the  place,  and  an  officer  in  the  national 
uniform  of  France,  who  surrounded  the  house  with 
forty  soldiers.  They  proceeded  to  take  possession  of 
the  effects,  but  all  that  was  valuable  had  previously 
been  removed. 

IX. 

THE   ENGLISH   SEMINARY   AT    PARIS. 

This  was  an  institution  in  Paris,  known  as  the  college 
of  Arras,  and  intended  partly  for  the  residence  of  the 
clergy,  who  had  finished  their  studies,  and  might 
further  improve  themselves  there, — and  partly  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  certain  number  of  wTiters  for  the 
defence  of  the  Holy  Catholic  religion.  The  design  for 
such  an  establishment  having  been  laid  before  Pope 
Paul  v.,  his  holiness  approved  of  it,  and  expressed  his 
readiness  to  render  every  assistance  towards  printing  the 
works  produced  by  the  members  of  such  institution. 
Accordingly,  in  the  month  of  August,  1611,  a  small 
house  was  hired  for  the  purpose  in  Paris,  near  the 
Porte  S.  Victoire  ;  and  the  new  establishment  was  taken 
possession  of  by   Dr.  Smith,  October  26th  following. 


18  LISBON   COLLEGE. 


He  was  joined  there  by  Drs.  Bishop,  Champney,  and 
Kellison,  with  Mr.  Richard  Ireland,  previously  master  of 
Westminster  school,  and  also  by  a  cousin  of  Dr.  Smith. 
This  college  continued  for  several  years  famous  for 
its  learned  inmates,  and  the  ability  of  their  productions. 
In  1667,  it  was  much  augmented  by  a  Mr.  Carr  of 
Dlouay  college,  but  not  completed  till  many  years 
after,  when  Dr.  Betham  was  appointed  to  preside  over 
it.  He  was  enabled  to  purchase  a  handsome  house  and 
garden  in  the  Rue  des  Postes,  Fauxbourg  S.  Marceau, 
and  opened  it  as  St.  Gregory's  seminary,  by  letters 
patent  from  the  King  of  France,  in  1701. 

X. 

THE  ENGLISH   COLLEGE  AT  LISBON. 

The  college  at  Lisbon  was  first  projected  by  an 
English  priest  residing  in  that  city,  named  Nicholas 
Ashton.  When  he  died,  he  bequeathed  his  house  to 
another  priest,  William  Newman,  or  in  his  default,  to 
the  Jesuits,  in  trust,  for  the  foundation  of  a  seminary. 
The  real  name  of  Mr.  Newman  was  Ralph  Sliefild.  He 
was  rector  of  the  house  which  Ashton  had  purchased 
with  a  view  to  forming  a  seminary.     A  rich  nobleman, 


Don  Pedro  Coutinho,  who  honoured  Newman  with  his 
intimate  friendship,  offered  to  erect  a  college  at  his  own 
expense  for  the  education  of  English  secular  priests. 
Mr.  Newman  proceeded  to  Madrid  in  August,  1621,  to 
obtain  the  necessary  permission  for  its  erection  from 
Philip  IV.  who  reigned  over  both  Spain  and  Portugal. 
Here  he  met  with  great  opposition  from  the  Jesuits, 
who  sought  the  government  of  this  new  college,  as  they 
already  governed  the  seminaries  of  Rome,  Valladolid, 
Seville,  and  Madrid.     To  this,  however,  the   founder 
Coutinho  would  not  consent,  and  positively  declared 
that  if  it  were  insisted  upon,  he  would  abandon  the 
undertaking  altogether.     Having  at  length  surmounted 
great  and  vexatious  opposition,  and  gained  his  object  at 
Madrid,  Mr.   Newman  returned  to  Lisbon  ;  and  soon 
after  procured  from  the  Pope  a  brief  in  confirmation  of 
the  new  establishment,  dated  September  22,  1622.   The 
founder  purchased  a  house,  garden,  and  other  premises, 
and  built  a  small  church,  intending  the  community  to 
consist  of  only  twelve  persons,  besides  servants,  as  a 
beginning ;  and  allowed  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
a-year  towards  their  support.     The  completion  of  the 
work  was  committed  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Harvey,  alias 


Hynes,  the  archdeacon  of  the  English  chapter.  It  was 
not  till  the  year  1627,  that  the  establishment  was 
ready  for  the  reception  of  its  destined  inmates,  and 
Mr.  Harvey  returning  to  England,  was  appointed  the 
first  president.  On  the  14th  of  November,  1628,  he 
arrived  again  at  Lisbon,  with  a  colony  of  ten  students 
from  Douay;  but,  broken  down  by  his  exertions  and 
fatigues,  he  was  taken  ill,  and  died  on  the  22nd  of 
the  February  following.  The  schools  were  opened  on 
the  25th  of  April,  1629.  The  second  president  was 
Dr.  Blacklow,  who  drew  up  a  code  of  rules,  and  settled 
the  government  of  the  establishment.  The  first  of  the 
English  benefactors  to  the  college  was  Mr.  Anthony 
Morgan,  one  of  the  earliest  students,  who  died  at  the 
college,  August  11th,  1631,  and  bequeathed  to  it 
twenty-four  pounds  a  year.  The  seminary,  small  and 
poorly  endowed  as  it  was,  acquired  however  so  much 
fame  from  its  very  commencement,  that  it  has  been  said 
of  it,  "  that  the  college  at  Lisbon  never  had  a  morning, 
but  shone  out  at  once  in  all  the  splendour  of  meridian 
day."  During  the  presidentship  of  the  Rev.  Peter 
Clarence,  and  by  his  exertions,  was  obtained  of  the 
Portuguese    authorities    the    privilege    of    conferring 


LISBON  COLLEGE.  21 


degrees  ;  and  the  degree  of  D.  D.  was  first  obtained 
by  Mr.  Edward  Daniel,  in  the  year  1640.  Two  very 
distinguished  members  of  Lisbon  College,  Dr.  Goden 
and  Mr.  John  Sergeant,  who  had  become  converts  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  arrived  at  the  college  on  the  4th  of 
November,  1643.  Dr.  Goden,  after  greatly  distinguish- 
ing himself  both  in  learning  and  virtue,  was  made 
president  of  the  college  in  1655.  The  controversial 
writings  of  the  Rev.  John  Sergeant  are  well  known  and 
highly  appreciated.  He  was  also  eminently  successful 
in  his  missionary  labours  in  England.  Among  the 
ornaments  of  the  college,  the  Rev.  John  Gother  stands 
very  conspicuous.  He  entered  the  college  January  10, 
1668,  soon  after  his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  faith ; 
and  left  it,  to  labour  on  the  mission  in  England,  at  the 
close  of  1682.  After  twenty-two  years  spent  in  mis- 
sionary labours  and  controversial  and  spiritual  writings, 
which  cannot  be  too  highly  esteemed,  Mr.  Gother  pro- 
posed to  return  to  Lisbon,  but  died  on  the  voyage, 
October  13,  1704.  His  body  was  brought  to  Lisbon, 
and  solemnly  buried  in  the  church  of  the  college,  near 
the  altar  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  Up  to  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  college  flourished  most ; 


22  LISBON    COLLEGE. 


but  its  resources  were  yet  very  scanty.  The  buildings 
were  mean,  the  accommodations  poor  and  inconvenient, 
and  the  diet  of  the  collegians  scanty.  Under  the  pre- 
sidentship of  Rev.  Edward  Jones,  funds  were  collected 
through  his  zeal  and  activity  for  rebuilding  the  college. 
But  the  sums  collected  were  so  inadequate,  that  though 
the  building  was  commenced  in  1714,  it  was  not  roofed 
in  till  1727  ;  and  the  interior  was  even  then  left  in  a 
very  unfinished  state.  About  the  year  1720,  an  impor- 
tant donation  was  made  to  the  college,  of  a  house,  vine- 
yard and  lands,  at  a  place  called  Pera,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Tagus.  The  college  buildings  sustained  con- 
siderable injury  in  the  great  earthquake  of  1755,  and 
the  president,  Mr.  Manley,  was  killed  by  the  falling  of 
a  turret,  which  had  been  left  standing  of  the  old  house. 
After  remaining  in  a  very  depressed  state,  and  with  its 
first  spirit  almost  extinct  for  a  series  of  years,  Lisbon 
college  began  to  flourish  again  about  the  year  1777, 
through  the  instrumentahty  of  the  Rev.  John  Preston 
and  the  Rev.  Jerom  Allen.  The  ruined  parts  of  the 
building  were  repaired,  and  the  whole  made  a  com- 
fortable residence  for  twenty-five  students,  with  proper 
superiors. 


LISBON    COLLEGE.  28 


Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  to 
supply  in  some  measure  the  loss  of  Douay,  and  other 
continental  colleges,  the  superiors  made  every  exertion 
to  increase  the  accommodations  of  the  college ;  and  they 
were  enabled  to  extend  the  house  to  its  present  dimen- 
sions, and  receive  forty  students,  besides  superiors. 
When  the  French  entered  Lisbon  in  1807,  the  members 
of  the  college  were  declared  prisoners  of  war,  but 
allowed  considerable  liberty.  The  college  was  occupied 
by  280  soldiers,  who  remained  there  nine  months.  Soon 
after  their  departure,  fresh  dangers  threatened  from  the 
advance  of  Marshal  Soult ;  the  students  were  sent  to 
England  as  a  measure  of  prudence,  and  the  house  was 
opened  as  a  temporary  academy  for  the  education  of 
young  gentlemen.  At  the  peace  of  1814,  the  college 
was  restored  to  its  original  purpose  ;  eleven  new 
students  for  the  church  arrived  from  England,  and  the 
Rev.  Edmund  Winstanley  was  recalled,  and  again 
inscribed  among  the  superiors  of  the  establishment. 


I£0tat)li0f)ment0   of  tf)e  Megular^. 


RELIGIOUS     MEN. 


BENEDICTINS. 

1. 

BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AND  COLLEGE  AT  DOUAY. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
only  one  Benedictin  remained  in  England,  of  the 
ancient  congregation  of  that  order,  Father  Sigebert 
Buckley ;  who  had  made  his  profession  at  Westminster 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary.  Several  young  men, 
however,  from  England  had  entered  the  congregations 
of  Benedictin  monks  at  Monte  Cassino  and  Valladolid, 
with  a  view  to  serve  upon  the  English  Mission.  Four 
of  these  returned  to  labour  in  England  in  1603, 
others  from  time  to  time  followed  ;  and  all  were  aggre- 
gated by  the  authority  of  the  Holy  See  to  the  original 
English  congregation,  represented  by  F.  Buckley.    The 


BENEDICTIN    PRIORY   AT  DOUAY. 


25 


vicar  general  of  the  order  in  England  was  F.  Augustin 
Bradshaw,  one  of  the  first  who  had  come  over  from  the 
continent.  He  retired  to  Douay,  and  hired  some  sleep- 
ing apartments  of  the  college  of  Anchin,  or  Anchienne, 
in  that  town,  in  the  year  1605,  and  there  began  with 
a  few  of  his  brethren,  and  some  scholars.  But  about  a 
year  after,  he  removed  to  a  more  commodious  dwelling, 
which  he  hired  of  the  Trinitarians.  Here  they  became 
sufficiently  numerous  to  keep  choir,  and  discharge  their 
other  duties ;  and  they  also  admitted  novices.  For 
some  years  they  suffered  great  poverty ;  till  by  the 
munificence  of  the  abbot  of  Vaast  in  Arras,  Philip 
Caravel,  a  portion  of  land  was  purchased,  and  the 
foundations  laid  of  a  noble  convent  and  college  for  the 
English  monks  ;  which  was  completed  and  opened  in 
1611,  and  called  St.  Gregory's.  Their  means  of  support 
were  at  first  very  scanty  ;  but  on  their  presenting  a 
petition  to  the  good  abbot  Caravel,  entreating  him  to 
grant  them  an  increased  allowance,  he  at  once  acceded 
to  their  request,  and  settled  upon  them  a  permanent 
revenue  of  twelve  hundred  florins.  The  foundation 
was  confirmed  by  Pope  Urban  VIII.  in  1626,  for 
not   more   than  twelve,  nor   less   than  nine  monks,  to 


26  BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT   DOUAY. 


be  dependent  upon  the  abbot  and  convent  of  St.  Vaast 
or  Vedast. 

At  the  French  revolution,  the  college  was  seized  in 
1793,  and  its  members  imprisoned,  with  circumstances 
of  the  most  wanton  cruelty.  Their  church  was  im- 
piously converted  into  a  temple  of  the  goddess  of 
Reason  ;  and  afterwards  used  for  military  stores.  It 
became  miserably  dilapidated,  and  was  taken  down,  and 
its  materials  sold  about  the  year  1833.  The  monastery 
originally  erected  by  the  abbot  of  St.  Vaast,  was 
destroyed  at  an  early  period  of  the  revolution.  The 
handsome  college,  which  the  Benedictins  had  erected, 
not  many  years  before,  was  let  by  the  revolutionary 
government  for  a  sugar  manufactory,  and  thereby  much 
damaged.  It  returned,  however,  with  the  greater  part 
of  the  land,  originally  belonging  to  St.  Gregory's,  to 
that  community  at  the  restoration  of  Louis  XVIII. 
They  were  then  settled  at  Downside,  in  Somersetshire, 
and  at  one  time  made  preparations  for  returning  to 
Douay ;  but  they  finally  transferred  the  whole  of  their 
property  in  Douay  to  those  who  remained  of  the 
English  monastery  of  St.  Edmund  in  Paris,  who  had 
been  ejected  at  the  revolution.     The  Rev.  Dr.  Marsh 


BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  DIEULOUARD.  27 


and  others  accordingjly  took  possession  of  the  college 
at  Douay  in  1818,  since  which  it  has  continued  to 
educate  students,  many  of  whom  are  now  labouring 
on  the  English  mission. 

BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  DIEULOUARD  OR 
DIEULEWART. 

The  church  at  Dieulouard  had  been  a  collegiate 
church,  till  in  the  year  1606  the  canons  were  removed 
by  the  Cardinal  Charles  of  Lorrain  to  the  cathedral  of 
Nancy.  Soon  after  their  removal,  Father  Bradshaw, 
the  vicar  general  of  the  English  Benedictins,  petitioned 
for  the  vacant  college,  and  through  the  interest  of  an 
English  canon  of  Remiremont  named  Pitts,  a  grant  of 
the  property  was  obtained.  By  means  of  this  gen- 
tleman, some  of  the  English  Benedictins,  who  had 
entered  different  monasteries  of  Italy  and  Spain,  were 
brought  to  Dieulouard  ;  where  they  were  put  in  pos- 
session of  the  collegiate  church,  and  a  small  farm  in  the 
neighbouring  village  of  Jaillon.  The  Bishop  of  Verdun 
confirmed  them  in   their  possessions.      The   house   of 


28  BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  DIEULOUARD. 


Dieulouart  was  prepared  for  their  reception,  in  the 
best  manner  that  their  poverty  could  afford.  But  from 
their  hard  circumstances,  it  went  on  so  slowly,  that  the 
monks  did  not  come  there  to  live  conventually  till  the 
9th  of  August,  1608. 

About  the  year  1613,  the  cottages  around  the  church 
were  purchased,  and  an  enclosure  formed  of  nearly  six 
acres  ;  the  church  was  repaired  and  ornamented,  and  a 
conventual  house  built  adjoining  it.     Other  land  was 
purchased,  till  the  whole  afforded  a  decent  maintenance 
for  twelve  or  fifteen  persons  in  community.     Here  Mr. 
Gilford,  of  the  Chillington  family,  took  the  habit,  and 
subsequently  became  prior.      Afterwards  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  first  see  in  France,  and  became  Archbishop 
of  Rheims.     He  was  a  considerable  benefactor;    and 
gave  to  the  monastery  a  valuable  library  and  a  quantity 
of  household  furniture.     So  rapidly  did  the  numbers 
here  increase,  that  in  the  year  1614  they  amounted  to 
eighty  religious.     Many  of  these  were  in  high  repute 
for  their  virtue  and  abilities  ;    and  eight  of  them  were 
at  one  time  professors  of  the  higher  sciences   in   the 
college  of  the  great  abbey  of  Marchin.     Other  colleges 
solicited  their  services,  and  several  bishops  had  recourse 


BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  DIEULOUARD.  29 


to  their  zeal  and  prudence  for  the  introduction  of 
salutary  reforms  into  various  communities.  The  mem- 
bers laboured  with  great  zeal  and  success  in  planting 
and  establishing  missions  in  their  native  country :  Father 
Alban  Row  was  a  distinguished  martyr  of  their  com- 
munity, under  the  penal  laws. 

AVhen  the  French  Revolution  broke  out,  the  house 
was  frequently  alarmed  and  threatened.  It  was  ha- 
rassed and  oppressed  with  arbitrary  impositions  and 
exactions  ;  and  no  other  reply  could  be  obtained  to  any 
remonstrance,  than  that  Englishmen  must  be  rich.  At 
length  in  the  beginning  of  October,  1793,  passports 
were  with  difficulty  obtained  for  the  younger  students 
to  return  to  England.  On  the  12th  of  the  same  month, 
the  house  was  beset  by  five  or  six  hundred  armed  men, 
between  9  and  10  at  night.  The  superior  and  two  others 
made  their  escape  with  much  difficulty.  Four  were 
imprisoned  the  same  night  at  Pont-a-Mausson,  and  all 
the  property  of  the  establishment  taken  possesion  of  in 
the  name  of  the  French  nation. 


30  BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  ST.  MALO. 

3. 

BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  ST.  MALO. 

Gifford,  called  in  religion,  Father  Gabriel  of  St.  Mary, 
went  into  Brittany  in  January,  1611,  with  Father  Barnes, 
to  endeavour  to  procure  an  additional  house  for  their 
order,  as  that  of  Dieulouard  had  not  sufficient  resources 
for  its  increasing  inmates.  They  were  favourably 
received  at  St.  Malo,  and  the  Bishop  invited  them  to 
fix  their  residence  near  his  cathedral.  GifFord  received 
a  prebend  with  its  emoluments,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
religious  ;  and  in  the  autumn  ol  the  same  year,  six 
more  monks  arrived  from  Dieulouard,  to  take  possession 
of  their  new  establishment.  A  citizen  of  St.  Malo, 
named  Toutin,  bestowed  on  them  his  house  and  chapel, 
with  an  annual  allowance  of  corn.  Gifford  was  appointed 
prior  ;  and  the  bishop  assigned  him  a  chair  of  divinity. 
Others  of  the  community  were  employed  in  teaching, 
preaching  and  other  sacred  duties  in  the  town.  After 
some  years,  the  parliament  of  Brittany  was  jealous  of 
the  monks,  and  the  King  Louis  XIII.  refused  to  allow 
a  community  of  English  in  that  sea  port  town,  so  near 
to  England.     In  1661  therefore,  the  monks  determined 


BENEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  PARIS.  31 

to  leave  their  house  at  St.  Malo,  which  was  disposed  of, 
after  much  trouble. 

4. 

BICNEDICTIN  PRIORY  AT  PARIS. 

The  origin  of  this  foundation  was  in  1615.  The 
abbess  of  Chelles,  having  requested  a  few  monks  from 
Dieulouard  in  1611,  to  perform  the  religious  offices  of 
her  convent,  resolved  soon  after  to  procure  for  the 
monks  a  permanent  establishment  in  Paris.  She 
obtained  six  monks  from  Dieulouard  in  1615,  and  placed 
them  in  a  house  called  St.  Andrew's,  in  the  Faubourg 
St.  Jacques.  She  assigned  for  their  maintenance  an 
annual  sum  of  £150,  secured  a  further  sum  for  the  rent 
of  the  premises,  and  frequently  supplied  them  with 
provisions  from  her  monastery.  The  prior  was  F.  Brad- 
shaw  ;  but  F.  Waldegrave,  who  had  originally  come  to 
Chelles,  and  was  the  superior  of  the  monks  there, 
became  the  real  superior  of  the  establishment  at  Paris, 
which  was  made  dependent  on  that  of  Chelles.  This 
continued  only  till  the  year  1618,  when  the  community 
were  desirous  of  establishing  the  independence  of  their 
house ;    and  Dr.  Giiford,  then  bishop  of  Archidal,  in 


32  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  OF  LAMBSPRING. 


1619,  erected  for  them  at  his  own  expense,  the  monas- 
tery in  Paris,  afterwards  known  as  St.  Edmund's.  They 
were  at  last  fixed  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Jacques,  in  the 
year  1642.  Their  church  was  built  in  1674,  and  con- 
secrated in  1677  by  the  Abbot  of  Noailles,  afterwards 
cardinal,  and  archbishop  of  Paris.  King  Louis  XIV. 
gave  towards  their  new  building  7000  livres.  Here  they 
remained  till  1793  ;  when  they  were  involved  in  the 
common  destruction  of  the  French  Revolution.  Those 
of  its  members  who  remained  after  the  restoration  of 
the  Benedictin  college  and  monastery  of  Douay  to  its 
former  possessors,  had  that  property  made  over  to  them 
by  the  monks  of  St.  Gregory's,  then  at  Downside,  and 
took  possession  of  it  in  1818;  since  which  time  it  has 
been  called  St.  Edmund's,  from  their  former  establish- 
ment at  Paris. 


5. 


BENEDICTIN    ABBEY   OF   LA>iSPEIlG,   OR 
LAMBSPRING. 


The  abbey  of  Lansperg,  or  Lambspring  is  situated 
near  Hildesheim  in  the  kingdom  of  Hanover.     It  was 


BENEDICTIN    ABBEY    OF    LAMBSPRING.  33 

originally  a  Benedictin  nunnery;  but  the  nuns  were 
removed  by  Ferdinand,  elector  of  Cologn,  and  lord  of 
Hildesheim ;  and  on  the  17th  of  November  1643, 
Clement  Reyner,  with  two  other  monks,  were  ordered 
to  take  possession  of  it.  These  came  from  the  esta- 
blishment at  Dieulouard  ;  so  that  Lambspring  was  a 
filiation  from  that  houst.  Reyner  was  appointed  the 
first  abbot  of  the  new  establishment.  In  the  month  of 
October  1644,  he  was  joined  by  the  Fathers  Laurence 
Appleton,  Hilary  Walker  and  Bernard  Palmer.  A 
body  of  rules  was  drawn  up  and  adopted  ;  and  thus  was 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  permanent  and  flourishing 
establishment.  In  the  year  following,  the  abbey  of' 
Lambspring,  with  the  consent  of  the  abbot,  was  sub- 
jected to  the  common  constitutions  of  the  English  con- 
gregation of  the  Benedictin  Order.  The  abbot  was  a 
regular  mitred  abbot,  and  like  all  the  prelates  in 
Germany,  enjoyed  great  privileges.  But  the  president 
of  the  English  congregation  claimed  and  exercised  the 
same  jurisdiction  over  Lambspring,  as  over  the  other 
houses  of  the  congregation. 


E 


34  OTHER    BENEDICTIN    ESTABLISHMENTS. 


OTHER     BENEDICTIN     ESTABLISHMENTS     IN 
GERMANY. 

The  superiors  of  the  German  Benedictin  congregation 
of  Bursfield,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1628,  gave  to  the 
English  fathers  the  abbey  of  Cisniar,  in  the  dukedom  of 
Holstein  ;  or  rather  lent  it  to  them  upon  certain  condi- 
tions, to  be  restored  whenever  the  English  monks  should 
recover  either  Canterbury  or  St.  Alban's,  by  the  return 
of  England  to  the  Catholic  faith. 

Other  monasteries  were  made  over  to  the  Eneflish 
congregation  on  the  like  conditions  ;  as  the  monastery 
of  Rintelin  in  Westphalia,  of  Dobran  in  the  duchy  of 
Mecklenburg,  of  Soharnabeck  in  Luneberg,  and  of 
Weine  in  the  territory  of  Brunswick.  None  of  these, 
however,  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  English 
monks,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


II. 

CARMELITES. 

BAREFOOTED  CARMELITES  AT  TONGRES. 

A  few  years  before  the  French  revolution,  that  is, 
about    1770,   a  small  establishment  of  Carmelites,   or 
White  Friars,  was  made  at  Tongres,  by  permission  of 
the    Prince   Bishop   of    Liege.     It   was   purchased   by 
Mr.  Firth,  of  the  Prince  Bishop,  having  belonged  to 
the  Jesuits,  until  their  suppression.     The  convent  was 
enlarged ;  and  an  order  came  from  Rome  for  the  En- 
glish Carmelites,  who  were  dispersed  in  France,  Brabant 
and  Germany,  to  repair  to  Tongres.     There  were  only 
five  Carmelite   friars   upon   the   mission    in    England. 
Four  were  sent  from  France  to  supply  the  missions  of 
the  aged  priests.      The  young  men,  who  came  to  the 
convent  were  sent  to  Wurzburg,  Heidelberg,  Liege,  and 
Antwerp.       Tongres    was    the    first    convent    for   the 
English  missions.     This    establishment,    however,   had 
hardly  time  to  gain  a  footing ;  for  it  was  broken  up  in 
1793,  in  consequence  of  the  French  revolution.     The 
convent  is  now  destroyed ;  its  funds  are  gone,  and  all 
papers  and  documents  relating  to  it,  lost. 


III. 

CARTHUSIANS. 
CARTHUSIAN     CONVENT    AT    NIEUPORT. 

The  Carthusians  who  were  driven  from  the  monastery 
of  Sheen,  or  Shene,  in  Surrey,  had  retired  to  Bruges. 
But  in  Queen  Mary's  reign,  Father  Chauncey,  who  had 
belonged  to  the  Carthusian  monastery  in  London,  left 
Bruges  with  several  others,  and  came  to  London  in 
June,  1555.  In  November,  1556,  they  recovered  their 
ancient  monastery  at  Shene,  and  F.  Chauncey  was  made 
prior.  On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  they  were  per- 
mitted to  leave  the  kingdom  unmolested,  being  in 
number  fifteen  monks  and  three  lay  brothers.  They 
returned  to  Bruges  in  1559,  and  remained  in  the 
Flemish  monastery  of  Carthusians,  till  in  1569  they 
obtained  a  house  in  the  street  St.  Clare. 

They  were  obliged  to  leave  Bruges  in  April,  1578,  in 
consequence  of  the  tumults  raised  by  the  Calvinists ; 
and  being  allowed  to  take  with  them  what  few  eifects 
they  had  saved  from  the  plundering  mob,  they  directed 
their  course  towards  Douay.  Here,  however,  they 
found  the  same  confusion  caused  by  the  Calvinists,  and 


CARTHUSIAN    CONVENT   AT    NIEUPORT.  37 


great  jealousy  of  the  English  on  the  part  of  the  inhabi- 
tants.    They  were   ordered   to  quit  the   town  in    two 

hours ;  and  after  some  ineffectual  attempts  to  settle  in 
France,  they  returned  to  the  Low  Countries,  and  arrived 

at  the  Carthusian  convent  at  Lou  vain,  on  the  17th  of 
July,  1578,  where  they  were  received  and  lodged  by 
order  of  Don  John  of  Austria,  till  the  end  of  the  year 
1590.  The  prior,  F.  Maurice  Chauncey,  went  to  Spain 
to  solicit  assistance  for  his  monks,  and  obtained  a 
pension  from  king  Philip  II.  about  the  year  1566, 
which,  however,  was  not  regularly  paid.  He  died  at 
Paris,  July  12,  1581,  and  was  succeeded  as  prior  by 
F.  Walter  Pytts. 

The  community  removed  from  Louvain  to  Antwerp, 
in  the  year  1590,  and  thence  to  Mechlin  in  1591,  where 
the  prior  had  purchased  a  large  house  in  the  Bleeke 
street.  There  they  resided  till  1626,  when  a  more  con- 
venient house  being  prepared  for  them  at  Nieuport, 
they  removed  thither  in  September.  A  charter  for 
their  settlement  at  Nieuport  was  given  at  Brussels,  by 
king  Philip  IV.  on  the  20th  of  June,  1626;  and  a  grant 
made  to  them  of  about  250  acres  of  land  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood,  in  lieu  of  the  former  pension  of  1200  florins, 


38 


CARTHUSIAN    CONVENT    AT    NIEUPORT. 


granted  by  Philip  II.  Here  they  remained  till  their 
final  suppression  by  the  emperor  Joseph  II.,  in  the 
year  1783,  at  which  time  the  community  was  reduced 
to  three  professed  monks,  and  two  lay  brothers.  This 
was  the  only  English  community  of  religious  men,  who 
had  continued  without  dispersion  from  the  reign  of 
Queen  Mary.  It  possessed  a  considerable  library,  in 
which  was  a  folio  bible  on  vellum,  written  in  the  1 2th 
century,  and  presented  to  the  monastery  at  Shene  by 
its  founder,  king  Henry  V.  in  1416,  This,  with  many 
other  MSS.  church  ornaments  and  paintings,  which  had 
been  brought  over  from  England  in  1559,  was  lost  at 
the  final  suppression  of  the  convent  in  1783. 


IV. 

.  CISTERCIANS. 

CISTERCIAxV     MONKS    OF    THE    REFORM    OF 
LA  TRAPPE. 

I 

No  English  Cistercian  community  was  established  on 
the  continent :  but  some  notice  may  be  introduced  here 
of  the  more  recent  adventures  of  some  English  monks 
of  the  austere  Reform  of  La  Trappe. 

When  the  dissolution  of  religious  houses  took  place 
in  France  at  the  revolution,  the  monks  of  La  Trappe 
fled  to  the  Canton  of  Fribourg,  in  Switzerland.  Their 
resources,  however,  were  so  small,  that  some  of  them 
were  compelled  to  retire  to  the  Low  Countries ;  where 
they  resided  near  Antwerp.  The  course  of  events 
obliged  them  to  seek  shelter  in  England;  and  they 
landed  in  this  country,  five  in  number,  in  the  year 
1792.  They  found  shelter  and  protection  on  the  estate 
of  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.  of  Lulworth  castle,  Dorsetshire, 
father  of  the  late  Cardinal  Weld  ;  and  were  generously 
provided  with  a  residence,  near  the  castle,  where  they 
remained  twenty-five  years.  Li  the  year  1817,  they 
returned  to  France.     Their  numbers  had  increased  at 


Lulworth  to  fifty -nine;  the  greater  part  of  whom  were 
either  English  or  Irish.  They  were  generously  received 
at  the  great  and  beautiful  abbey  of  Melleray,  originally 
founded  and  possessed  by  English  Cistercian  monks, 
situated  near  Nantes,  in  Brittany.  Here  the  com- 
munity increased  so  rapidly,  that  in  1826,  they  num- 
bered 160  members  ;  two-thirds  of  whom  were  British 
subjects. 

A  year  after  the  second  revolution  in  France,  the 
religious  community  of  Melleray  was  declared  to  be 
suppressed  and  dissolved,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1 83 1 . 
After  much  vexatious  and  insulting  treatment,  all  those 
monks,  who  were  British  subjects,  were  compelled  to 
leave  the  convent,  and  forced  on  board  a  steam  boat  on 
the  Loire,  on  the  19th  of  November.  They  were  con- 
veyed in  the  Hebe  to  the  shores  of  Ireland  ;  whence  a 
portion  of  them  came  to  begin  the  establishment  which 
they  now  possess  in  peace  and  security,  in  Charnwood 
Forest,  Leicestershire,  and  which  they  have  named 
Mount  St.  Bernard. 


V. 

DOMINICANS,  OR   PREACHING  FRIARS. 

1. 

DOMINICAN    CONVENT    AND    COLLEGE    AT 
BORNHEIM. 

There  were,  at  the  dissolution  of  religious  houses  in 
England,  forty  three  convents  of  Dominicans,  or  the 
order  of  preachers,  commonly  called  in  England  Black 
Friars.  But  the  English  Dominicans  acquired  no 
establishment  on  the  continent,  till  the  year  1658,  when 
the  convent  at  Bornheim,  near  Antwerp,  was  founded 
for  them,  by  the  Baron  of  Bornheim.  Its  estabhshment 
was  principally  owing  to  Phihp  Howard,  third  son  of 
Henry  Lord  Mowbray,  who  had  been  placed  with  the 
Dominicans  at  Cremona,  and  in  a  few  years  took  the 
habit  of  the  order,  and  made  his  rehgious  profession 
among  them.  He  endeavoured  to  recover  the  glory  of 
his  order,  by  completing  the  foundation  at  Bornheim, 
and  became  the  first  prior  of  the  new  establishment.    In 

F 


42  DOMINICANS    AT    BORNHEIM. 


May,  1675,  Father  Howard  was  promoted  to  the  dignity 
of  cardinal ;  and  went  to  Rome,  accompanied  part  of  the 
way  by  his  uncle,  Viscount  Stafford,  who  was  beheaded 
in  1680,  his  son,  the  Honourable  John  Stafford,  and 
other  distinguished  persons.  At  Rome,  Cardinal  Howard 
was  appointed  protector  of  the  English  nation,  and 
chief  director  of  the  affairs  of  the  English  catholics. 
He  died  probably  in  the  year  1690.  He  founded  also 
another  convent  in  Rome  for  the  English  Dominicans, 
but  it  was  suppressed  after  a  brief  existence.  The  reli- 
gious at  Bornheim  afterwards  kept  a  celebrated  college 
for  the  education  of  youth ;  while  they  trained  up 
zealous  and  learned  ecclesiastics  of  their  order.  They 
continued  to  flourish,  till  they  were  compelled  to  fly  in 
1794,  on  account  of  the  French  invasion  of  the  Low 
Countries. 

The  mansion  of  Carshalton  in  Surrey  was  purchased 
for  the  refugees  from  Bornheim,  of  the  order  of 
St.  Dominic  ;  and  here  a  school  was  commenced  by 
them  in  1795,  under  the  direction  of  Fathers  Wilson 
and  Atkinson.  This  they  carried  on  till  the  year  1810, 
when  they  removed  to  their  present  establishment  at 
Hinckley  in  Leicestershire. 


DOMINICANS    AT    LOUVAIN.  43 


2. 

DOMINICAN  COLLEGE  AT  LOUVAIN. 

This  was  a  small  establishment,  destined  solely  for 
the  young  religious  of  Bornheim,  to  pursue  their  studies 
in  philosophy  and  divinity.  On  this  account,  it  enjoyed 
the  privileges  of  the  university  of  Louvain.  It  was 
broken  up,  of  course,  when  the  house  at  Bornheim  was 
abandoned  in  1794. 


VI. 

FRANCISCANS. 

CONVENT    OF    FRANCISCAN    RECOLLECTS    AT 

DOUAY. 

The  Franciscan  friars  possessed  about  eighty  con- 
vents in  England,  before  the  Reformation,  and  their 
order  produced  many  eminent  men  among  us.  In  the 
year  1614,  or  the  year  following,  a  Douay  priest,  John 
Gennings,  anxious  to  revive  the  order  of  St.  Francis 
among  the  English,  entered  the  noviceship,  and  made 
his  profession  before  the  commissary  general  of  the 
English  province  of  Franciscans.  He  persuaded  several 
students  at  Douay  and  the  other  English  colleges,  to 
follow  his  example  ;  who,  through  his  interest  passed 
through  their  noviceship  at  Ypres.  Several  promising 
young  men  thus  became  Franciscans  :  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  small  convent  at  a  house  procured  for 
them  at  Douay,  about  the  year  1617.  Father  John 
Gennings  became  their  first  provincial  superior,  when 
their  numbers  had  so  increased,  that,  by  an  express  bull 
from  Rome,  they  were  made  a  distinct  and  independent 


FRANCISCANS.  45 


body.  Though  they  were  extremely  poor,  destitute  of 
all  endowment,  and  depending  on  alms  for  their  support, 
they  contrived  to  erect  a  handsome  church.  Their 
object  was  to  prepare  additional  labourers  for  the 
English  mission.  In  1624  they  had  fifteen  resident 
members.  They  had  no  other  school  than  for  the 
religious  of  the  house  :  but  enjoyed  in  that  respect,  the 
privileges  of  the  university  of  Douay.  The  establish- 
ment subsisted  in  a  flourishing  condition,  till  the  French 
Revolution  put  an  end  to  it  in  1793.  All  the  friars  who 
resided  there  at  that  time  found  means  to  escape  out  of 
France  in  disguise  ;  whereas  the  members  of  all  the 
other  English  establishments  in  France  were  seized, 
imprisoned,  and  most  barbarously  treated. 


VII. 

SOCIETY    OF    JESUS. 

1. 

JESUIT    COLLEGE    AT    ST.    OMER. 

The  English  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  had  first 
a  school  in  Normandy,  erected  through  the  interest  of 
Father  Persons,  in  1583,  with  a  pension  of  one  hundred 
pounds,  for  the  education  of  youth,  granted  by  the 
Duke  of  Guise.  This,  however,  ceasing  at  the  death 
of  the  Duke,  F.  Persons  conceived  the  design  of  a 
college  at  St.  Omer,  which  was  completed  in  1594.  It 
was  accomplished  by  donations  from  the  king  of  Spain, 
and  others,  whose  main  intention  was  that  youth  should 
be  there  prepared  for  the  secular  colleges  recently 
established  in  Spain.  It  was  governed  at  first  by  three 
Flemish  rectors  in  succession  ;  and  the  first  English 
rector  was  F.  William  Baldwin.  It  became  the  prin- 
cipal establishment  of  the  English  Jesuits ;  and  so  con- 
tinued till  their  Society  was  suppressed  in  France.  It 
then  was  made  over  to  the  English  secular  clergy,  in 


JESUITS'    NOVICIATE    AT   WATTEN.  47 


quality  of  a  royal  college  ;  and  it  so  remained  till  its 
dissolution  in  1793. 

J  2. 

NOVICIATE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    JESUITS    AT 
WATTEN. 

Watten  is  situated  two  leagues  from  St.  Omer,  on 
the  canal  leading  to  Dunkirk.  About  the  year  1570, 
the  monastery  of  canons  regular  at  this  place  was  sup- 
pressed. The  bulk  of  its  revenue  went  for  the  endow- 
ment of  a  bishopric  at  St.  Omer;  and  the  remainder 
was  assigned  for  the  maintenance  of  a  religious  com- 
munity, to  be  selected  by  the  bishop,  and  to  reside  in 
the  houscj  from  which  the  canons  had  been  ejected.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  thirty  years  after,  when  Blase 
became  bishop  of  St.  Omer,  that  any  measures  were 
taken  to  fulfil  this  intention.  He  conceived  the  idea 
of  employing  the  house  for  preparing  missioners  for 
England :  and  the  project  was  proposed  to  F.  Persons, 
and  finally  laid  before  Pope  Paul  V.  who  approved  of 
the  house  being  transferred,  with  its  endowment  of 
three  thousand  florins,  to  the  Jesuits,  for  a  noviciate. 
The  plan,  however,  met  with  delay  and  opposition  from 


'18  JESUITS'    NOVICIATE    AT    WATTEN. 

the  archduke  Albert ;  and  F.  Persons,  unable  to  obtain 
an  immediate  settlement  at  Watten,  hired  a  house  at 
Louvain,  an  ancient  residence  of  the  knights  of  Malta. 
A  devout  Spanish  lady,  Aloysia  de  Caravajal,  had 
placed  a  large  sum  at  his  disposal  for  the  foundation  of 
a  noviciate  for  the  society.  With  this,  he  estabhshed 
the  house  at  Louvain  in  1607  ;  and  F.  Thomas  Talbot 
w^as  sent  from  Rome  to  take  charge  of  it.  In  1612,  the 
foundations  of  a  college  were  added  to  this  noviciate ; 
but  the  great  increase  of  the  members,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  an  infectious  disorder  among  the  novices  in 
1614,  induced  the  fathers  to  seek  a  new  residence  at 
Liege.  On  the  1st  of  November  in  that  year,  the 
noviciate  was  removed  thither,  under  the  direction  of 
F.  John  Gerard ;  and  settled  in  a  suitable  building, 
which  had  been  purchased,  near  the  walls  of  the  town, 
with  about  ten  acres  of  land.  In  1616,  however,  they 
built  a  regular  college,  and  opened  it  with  a  school  of 
philosophy,  and  one  of  divinity.  The  establishment 
flourished,  and  had  become  important,  when  by  the 
death  of  the  archduke  Albert  in  1621,  the  fathers  were 
enabled  to  reside  in  their  house  at  Watten,  which  had 
been  confirmed  to  them  in  1611.     In  the  course  of  the 


JESUITS'    COLLEGE    AT   LIEGE. 


following  year,  the  noviciate  was  transferred  from 
Liege  to  Watten,  under  F.  Henry  Silisdon,  while 
the  college  remained  at  Liege,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  F.  Owen  Shelly.  In  1624,  the  inmates 
amounted  to  twelve  in  the  noviciate  at  Watten.  It 
continued  till  the  suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus; 
and  served  for  a  retreat  for  aged  and  infirm  members  of 
the  society,  as  well  as  for  a  noviciate.  After  the  Jesuits 
were  suppressed  in  France,  those  of  Watten  removed 
to  the  professed  house  at  Ghent,  in  1765,  and  remained 
there  till  the  dissolution  of  the  society  in  1 773. 

3. 

COLLEGE   OF    ENGLISH    JESUITS    AT   LIEGE. 

At  the  college  of  the  English  Jesuits  at  St.  Omer, 
were  taught  grammar,  poetry,  and  rhetoric  ;  but  they 
procured  another  establishment  at  Liege,  where  the 
students  pursued  the  courses  of  philosophy  and  divinity. 
It  was  begun  in  1616,  completed  and  partly  endowed  in 
1622,  by  George  Talbot  of  Grafton,  afterwards  Earl 
of  Shrewsbury ;  when  Father  Thomas  Gerard  was 
appointed  its  first  rector.  In  1626,  through  the  interest 
of  the  same  George  Talbot,  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who 

G 


50  JESUITS'  PROFESSED  HOUSE  AT  GHENT. 

was  prince  bishop  of  Liege,  settled  an  annual  pension 
on  this  college,  of  the  interest  of  two  hundred  thousand 
florins.  The  mansion  displayed  its  spacious  buildings 
on  the  heights  of  the  city,  amidst  groups  of  stately 
trees.  The  college  subsisted  on  its  original  footing  till 
the  suppression  of  the  Society  in  1773.  It  then  changed 
its  name  into  that  of  an  English  academy,  and  enlarged 
its  plan  of  education.  It  thus  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  same  proprietors,  till  the  French  occupied  Liege  in 
1794.  Thomas  Weld,  Esq.  of  Lulworth  Castle,  had 
been  brought  up  at  this  college  ;  and  his  sons  were  its 
inmates  in  1793.  This  gentleman  offered  the  Jesuits  an 
asylum  at  Stonyhurst,  where  they  have  been  ever  since 
established. 


4. 


PROFESSED    HOUSE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    JESUITS 

AT    GHENT. 


In  the  year  1622,  Ann,  Countess  of  Arundel  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  house  for  the  Jesuits  at  Ghent.  It  was 
styled  the  Professed  House  ;  and  was  destined  chiefly 
as  a  place  of  retirement  for  such  of  their  members  as 


JESUITS'  PROFESSED  HOUSE  AT  GHENT.  51 


were  aged  and  infirm,  or  unable  to  perform  tiie  active 
duties  of  the  society.  It  served  also  for  others,  who 
vi^ere  preparing  to  labour  in  their  various  functions.  The 
house  was  small,  and  made  but  little  appearance.  In 
1765,  the  noviciate  was  removed  to  this  place  at  Ghent, 
from  Watten :  but  both  were  dissolved  at  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Jesuits,  by  Pope  Clement  XIV.  in  1773. 


Keltgtous   Sl^aomen. 

I. 

AUGUSTINIANS. 
1. 

PRIORY    OF   CANONESSES   OF    ST.   AUGUSTIN    AT 

LOUVAIN. 

The  monastery  of  Augustinian  nuns  in  Louvain  was 
begun  on  the  10th  of  February,  1609,  by  Mrs.  Mary 
Wiseman  and  several  other  English  ladies,  who  had  been 
professed  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Ursula,  in  the  same 
town.  With  the  approbation  of  the  archbishop  of  the 
diocese,  they  purchased  a  building,  and  converted  it 
into  a  monastery  in  honour  of  the  conception  of  our 
Blessed  Lady,  and  of  St.  Michael,  under  the  title  of  St. 
Monica's.  They  were  at  first  seventeen  nuns  and  two 
lay  sisters.  On  the  16th  of  November,  Mrs.  Mary 
Wiseman  was  elected  the  first  prioress.  These  pious 
ladies  had  no  foundation  to  begin  with  ;  but  came  forth 
from  St.  Ursula's  with  only  their  habits,  and  some  small 
articles  of  furniture,  and  no  more  than  five  shillings  in 


J-"** 


their  purse.  All  they  could  depend  upon  were  some 
small  annuities  promised  by  their  friends  :  but  thev 
cheerfully  relied  upon  Divine  Providence,  and  their 
hopes  were  never  disappointed.  Two  friends  in  par- 
ticular generously  assisted  them,  Dr.  Caesar  Clement, 
an  English  priest,  who  was  dean  of  the  church  of  St. 
Gudule,  in  Brussels,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Worthington,  of 
Blainscoe,  in  Lancashire,  then  resident  at  Louvain. 
Their  church  was  finished  in  1624,  and  consecrated  by 
the  archbishop  of  Mechlin,  on  Trinity  Sunday,  under 
the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  our  Blessed 
Lady.  These  nuns  received  young  ladies  for  education  ; 
and  it  is  recorded  to  their  honour  in  the  Douay  diary 
that  they  lived  in  a  pious,  holy,  and  religious  manner. 
So  they  continued  till  the  disastrous  period  of  the 
French  Revolution,  when  the  Low  Countries  were 
invaded,  in  the  year  1794.  Then  the  members  of  this 
community  were  obliged  to  fly ;  and  quitted  Louvain 
on  the  28th  of  June.  They  proceeded  to  Rotterdam, 
and  embarked  for  England.  They  landed  at  Green- 
wich July  18th,  and  proceeded  to  Hammersmith,  where 
they  continued  in  the  house  then  called  the  ladies' 
school,    till    the   year    1800,    when    they   removed   to 


Amesbury  in  Wiltshire,  to  a  house  built  upon  part  of 
the  ancient  Benedictin  nunnery.  But  in  the  year  fol- 
lowing, they  finally  settled  at  Spetisbury  House,  near 
Blandford,  Dorsetshire,  where  they  have  ever  since 
been  established. 

2. 

PRIORY    OF   CANONESSES   OF    ST.   AUGUSTIN    AT 

BRUGES. 

The  number  of  postulants  for  admission  into  the 
Convent  of  Augustinian  nuns  at  Louvain  being  very 
great,  it  was  determined  to  purchase  a  house  at  Bruges, 
and  begin  a  filiation  there  from  Louvain.  Thither  nine 
of  the  religious  proceeded  on  the  14th  of  September, 
1629,  under  the  direction  of  the  Reverend  Mother 
Frances  Stanford.  The  education  of  young  ladies 
formed  part  of  their  duties.  For  several  years  they 
suffered  much  from  want  of  funds,  and  from  the  small- 
ness  of  their  habitation  ;  and  were  obliged  to  receive  a 
small  pension  from  the  mother  house  at  Louvain.  In 
time  however  they  found  friends  ;  and  were  enabled  by 
liberal  donations  to  discharge  the  debts,  which  they  had 
been  necessitated  to  contract,  and  also  to  enlarge  their 


house.  When  Lady  Lucy  Herbert  was  prioress  of  this 
community,  she  rebuilt  their  church,  which  was  beau- 
tiful, but  small.  Thus  by  degrees,  their  establishment 
increased  in  numbers,  and  flourished  exceedingly. 

When  the  French  invaded  the  Netherlands  at  the 
Revolution,  these  religious  on  an  alarm  of  danger, 
quitted  their  house  on  the  first  of  May,  1794,  and 
retired  for  safety  to  Sluys,  where  they  remained  five 
weeks. 

They  ventured,  however,  to  return  to  Bruges ;  but 
were  permitted  to  remain  there  only  a  fortnight,  before 
the  approach  of  the  French  obliged  them  again  to  fly. 
They  first  went  to  Antwerp,  and  thence  proceeded  to 
Rotterdam,  where  they  arrived  on  the  29th  of  June. 
They  embarked  for  England  on  the  5th  of  July,  and 
landed  in  London  on  the  12th  of  the  same  month. 
They  were  kindly  received  in  their  native  land,  and 
generously  invited  to  take  up  their  abode  at  Hengrave 
Hall,  in  Suffolk,  the  seat  of  Sir  Thomas  Gage,  Bart. 
Their  superior  was  Mrs.  Mary  More,  who  repaired 
with  her  spiritual  daughters  to  the  hospitable  mansion 
of  Hengrave,  where  they  were  enabled  to  practise  all 
their  religious  observances,  and  also  to  continue  their 


school  for  young  ladies.  Here  they  remained  till  the 
peace  of  Amiens,  when  Mrs.  More  returned  to  their 
convent  at  Bruges,  which  they  had  repurchased.  That 
excellent  lady  died  in  the  spring  of  1807.  The  establish- 
ment remained  with  very  little  molestation,  and  con- 
tinues to  flourish,  with  a  high  reputation,  both  in 
England  and  the  Low  Countries. 

3. 

CANONESSES   OF  ST.  AUGUSTIN  AT  PARIS. 

This  establishment  originated  with  six  English  young- 
ladies,  who  had  been  educated  in  the  French  abbey  of 
the  order  of  St.  Augustin  at  Douay.  Aspiring  to 
greater  perfection  in  a  religious  life,  they  resolved  to 
begin  a  monastery  of  the  same  order  ;  and  under  the 
fifuidance  of  one  of  their  number,  Daine  Letitia  Maria 
Tredway,  having  obtained  the  necessary  powers  of 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  they  settled  in  the  year  1633,  in  the 
Fauxbourg  St.  Michel  at  Paris,  being  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  clergy  of  Douay  college.  But  finding  this 
situation  inconvenient,  they  soon  removed  to  the 
Fauxbourg  St.  Antoine  ;  and  finally  purchased  a  house 
in  the  Rue  des  Fosse's  St.   Victor,   in  the  year  1639. 


CANONESSES  OF  ST.  AUGUSTIN  AT   PARIS.  57 

Here  they  built  their  monastery,  which  was  called 
Mount  Sion,  and  their  church,  which  was  dedicated 
in  honour  of  St.  Augustin,  by  Dr.  Smith,  Bishop 
of  Chalcedon,  who  resided  for  greater  security  in  Paris. 
He  spent  the  last  thirteen  years  of  his  life  in  an  apart- 
ment belonging  to  this  convent ;  and  there  died  in  1655, 
leaving  a  considerable  legacy  to  the  community,  who 
placed  a  monument  to  his  memory  in  their  church. 
Dame  Tredway  governed  the  house  as  lady  abbess, 
during  the  space  of  forty  years;  but  afterwards  the 
superior  was  chosen  for  four  years  only,  though  she 
might  be  re-elected  at  the  expiration  of  that  term. 
During  many  years,  this  community  was  numerous  and 
flourishing ;  receiving  members  successively  from  all 
the  noble  Catholic  families  of  England,  and  educating 
numbers  of  young  English  ladies  in  Catholic  principles 
and  practice,  at  the  time  when  their  religion  was 
proscribed  in  England.  This  house  was  honoured  by 
frequent  visits  from  the  Stuart  princes,  during  their 
exile  in  France,  especially  James  II.  and  Marie  d'Este  ; 
and  continued  to  prosper  till  1793,  when  all  British 
property  was  confiscated.  The  convent  was  then 
declared   a   house   of  detention,   and    the  community, 

H 


58      CANONESSES  OF  THE  H.  SEPULCHRE  AT  LIEGE. 


with  many  other  ladies,  both  religious  and  secular, 
remained  for  seventeen  months  prisoners  within  its 
walls.  They  suffered  much  misery,  anxiety,  and  dis- 
tress, during  the  remainder  of  the  Revolution.  At 
length,  however,  they  regained  their  liberty  and  the 
restoration  of  their  house,  through  the  protection  of  the 
consuls  Buonaparte  and  Lebrun.     They  resumed  their 

religious  habit  and  exercises,  received  again  some 
English    members,    and  re-opened  their  school,  which 

has  continued  to  flourish  ever  since. 


CANOiNESSES  OF  THE  HOLY   SEPULCHRE  AT 

LIEGE. 


This  establishment  was  originally  founded  in  the 
year  1616  by  the  Hon.  Susanna  Hawley,  with  very 
slender  means.  It  was  begun  in  the  convent  of  the 
suppressed  Jesuitesses  at  Liege  ;  but  in  1624,  the  com- 
munity obtained  of  the  Pope  and  the  prince  bishop  of 
Liege  the  house  in  which  they  continued  till  the  French 
Revolution.  It  had  formerly  belonged  to  some  monks 
of  the  hospital  of  the  knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
who  had  been  suppressed.    Here  their  excellent  method 


CANONESSES  OF  THE  H.  SEPULCHRE  AT  LIEGE.     59 

of  education  and  their  virtuous  conduct  rendered  them 
eminent ;  and  so  they  continued  till  the  French  invaded 
the  neighbourhood  of  Liege  in  1794.  On  the  29th  of 
May,  in  that  year,  these  religious  left  Liege,  and  after 
many  hindrances  and  disagreeable  accidents,  they  arrived 
safe  at  Greenwich,  on  the  18th  of  August  following.  In 
1795,  they  settled  at  Holme,  near  Market  Weigh  ton,  a 
seat  of  the  Langdale  family  in  Yorkshire  :  but  removed 
in  1797  to  Dean  House,  near  Salisbury.  Thence  in 
1800,  they  came  to  their  present  mansion  at  Newhall, 
near  Chelmsford,  in  Essex. 


II. 

BENEDTCTINS. 

1. 

BENEDICTIN    ABBEY    AT    BRUSSELS. 

The  English  Benedictin  abbey  at  Brussels  was  the  first 
monastery  of  English  nuns  founded  on  the  continent 
after  the  dissolution  of  religious  liouses  in  Fngland  at 
the  Reformation ;  and  it  is  curious  to  observe  that  its 
members  were  the  first  who  returned  to  England  after 
the  French  Revolution.  It  was  originally  projected 
by  Lady  Mary  Percy,  daughter  of  Thomas,  Earl  of 
Northumberland.  A  bull  was  obtained  of  Pope 
Clement  VIII.  for  beginning  a  Benedictin  nunnery 
at  Brussels,  to  be  under  the  archbishop  of  Mechlin,  and 
not  subject  to  the  Order.  In  the  year  1598,  the  pur- 
chase of  a  house  was  made  in  Brussels,  which  belonged 
to  Sir  Rowland  Longinus,  viscount  of  Bergues.  To  aid 
her  in  this  pious  foundation.  Lady  Mary  Percy  had 
obtained  from  the  Benedictin  monastery  of  St.  Peter  in 
Rheims,  Madam  Joanna  Berkley,  who  was  a  professed 
nun  in  that  house,  who  came  to  Brussels,  and  joined 


BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  BRUSSELS.  61 


Lady  Mary,  with  several  other  young  English  ladies, 
who  aspired  to  a  religious  life.  Possession  of  the  house 
which  had  been  purchased  was  obtained  on  the  11th  of 
July,  1598.  Other  devout  ladies  joined  the  former  ; 
and  on  the  14th  of  November,  1599,  Madam  Joanna 
Berkley  was  consecrated  the  first  abbess  of  the  new 
monastery,  by  Mathias  van  Houe,  archbishop  of 
Mechlin.  Eight  ladies  were  invested  with  the  habit 
shortly  after,  and  began  their  noviceship  with  great 
fervour.     Lady   Mary   Percy   was  the    second   abbess,  j 

followed  by  other   ladies   of  ancient  English  families.  i 

The     statutes    of    this    new    monastery    were    drawn  i 

up  by  an  assembly   of  prelates,    abbots,  and  divines,  I 

well   experienced  in   monastic  discipline.     They  were  1 

approved  of  and  confii'med  by  the   Pope,  in  the  year  \ 

1612;    and   delivered   to  the  religious,  with   the  con-  t, 

ditions  of  their  being  subject  to  the  archbishop,  and  : 

having  their  spiritual  director  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ; 
whose  members  had  much  laboured  for  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  good  of  their  monastery  from  its  commence- 
ment. 

This  sanctuary  of  virtue  and  piety  had  existed  nearly 
two  hundred  years,  when  it  was  assailed  by  the  votaries 


62  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  CAMBRAY. 


of  anarchy  and  infidelity.  The  peaceful  inmates  were 
compelled  to  quit  their  house,  and  seek  some  new 
establishment.  They  quitted  Brussels  June  22,  1794, 
passed  through  Antwerp,  and  arrived  at  Rotterdam  on 
the  26th.  There  they  embarked  for  England  on  the 
2nd  of  July,  and  landed  on  the  6th  at  St.  Catherine's 
stairs,  near  the  Tower.  They  remained  only  three  days 
in  London,  leaving  it  on  the  9th  of  July  for  Win- 
chester, where  a  house  had  been  provided  for  them,  in 
St.  Peter's  street,  a  retired  and  healthy  part  of  the  city. 
There  they  have  continued  ever  since,  engaged  in  the 
education  of  young  ladies. 

2. 
BENEDICTIN    ABBEY    AT    CAMBRAY. 

The  monastery  of  English  nuns  of  the  order  of 
St.  Benedict  at  Brussels,  proved  a  nursery  to  others. 
The  first  filiation  from  it  was  begun  at  Cambray  by 
Mrs.  Frances  Gawen.  Some  of  the  Benedictin  fathers 
requested  of  the  archbishop  of  Mechlin  and  Lady  Mary 
Percy,  the  abbess  of  the  English  monastery  at  Brussels, 
that  some  of  the  religious  might  begin  a  house  of  their 
order  at  Cambray,  to  be  placed  under  their  direction. 


BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  CAMBRAY.  -63 


This  being  granted,  the  Rev.  Dame  Frances  Gawen, 
Dame  Potentiana  Deacon,  and  Dame  Viviana  Yaxley, 
professed  nuns  of  the  convent  at  Brussels,  were  con- 
ducted to  Cambray  for  that  purpose  by  Father  Rudisend 
Barlow,  prior  of  the  English  Benedictin  monastery  at 
Paris.  This  took  place  in  the  year  1623.  The  house 
in  which  they  were  located  was  the  refuge  of  the 
Benedictin  abbey  of  Ferny,  a  monastery  not  far  from 
Cambray,  which  had  been  begun  by  English,  but  was 
then  in  ruins.  Nor  was  this  house  at  Cambray  much 
better.  There  were  only  four  walls  standing  without 
any  partitions,  and  the  walls  broken  in  many  places  ;  so 
that  the  place  cost  £500  to  make  it  habitable.  At  first 
it  was  only  lent  to  them  ;  but  in  1638,  it  was  made  over 
to  them  as  a  gift.  The  three  ladies  took  possession, 
December  24th,  1623.  The  archbishop  himself  received 
them  there,  celebrated  the  first  Mass,  and  dedicated 
their  convent  to  our  B.  Lady  of  Consolation.  On  the 
1st  of  January,  1625,  the  same  prelate  professed  nine 
other  ladies,  and  placed  the  community  entirely  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  English  Benedictin  fathers. 
The  first  abbess  was  Dame  Frances  Gawen,  who 
resigned  this  dignity  after  six  years,  and  was  succeeded 


64  BENEDICTIN    ABBEY    AT    CAMBRAY. 

by  Dame  Catherine  Gascoigne,  who  governed  the  com- 
munity thirty-four  years,  with  great  piety  and  prudence. 
These  religious  educated  young  ladies,  and  lived  by 
their  own  work  and  other  resources,  engaged  in  the 
most  edifying  manner  in  the  exercises  of  religion  and 
virtue. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1793,  a  body  of  soldiers 
entered  the  convent,  and  hurried  away  its  inmates  with- 
out even  a  change  of  clothes,  to  Compeigne,  whither 
they  were  carried  in  open  carts,  amidst  insults  and 
barbarous  usage.  They  were  imprisoned  in  the  infirmary 
of  the  convent,  formerly  of  the  Visitation ;  in  another 
part  of  which  were  confined  seventeen  Carmelite  nuns 
of  the  convent  of  St.  Denis.  These  were  led  out  to 
execution  only  a  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  the 
English  nuns,  who  for  a  long  time  daily  expected  the 
same  fate.  They  sufiered  greatly  dm-ing  their  confine- 
ment, from  the  want  of  bread,  fuel,  and  clothing.  They 
received  however  some  articles  of  wearing  apparel, 
which  had  belonged  to  the  poor  Carmelites  who  were 
guillotined,  which  to  them  were  most  valuable  treasures 
and  holy  relics.  They  were  twenty  in  number,  besiaes 
their  chaplain,  F.  Augustin  Walker,  and  another  priest. 


Of  these,  the  reverend  chaplain  and  four  of  the  nuns 
sunk  under  the  rigours  of  their  imprisonment,  early  in 
the  year  1794.  At  length  they  obtained  their  liberty, 
and  on  the  24th  of  April,  1795,  procured  passports  to 
return  to  their  native  country.  On  the  3rd  of  May  they 
sailed  from  Calais,  and  on  the  4th  arrived  in  London. 
No  sooner  w^as  their  arrival  known,  than  a  lady  of 
distinction  charitably  provided  a  house  for  them  at  the 
west  end  of  the  town,  where  she  visited  them,  and 
afforded  them  every  comfort  in  her  power.  Upon  the 
invitation  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brewer,  they  proceeded  to 
Wootton,  near  Liverpool,  where  they  undertook  a 
school  for  the  education  of  young  ladies.  In  the  year 
1808  these  religious  removed  to  Abbot's  Salford,  near 
Stratford  on  Avon.  There  they  remained,  and  con- 
tinued their  school,  till  1838,  when  they  entered  upon 
their  present  residence  at  Stanbrook,  near  Worcester. 

3. 

BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  GHENT. 

Four  nuns  of  the  monastery  of  English  Benedictins 
at  Brussels,  Eugenia  Poulton,  Magdalen  Digby,  Mary 
Roper,  and  Lucy  Knatchbull,    on   account   of  various 

I 


inconveniences  arising  from  the  increased  number  of 
the  establishment,  became  anxious  to  form  a  new  foun- 
dation. After  two  years  of  consultation  with  several 
fathers,  they  addressed  the  archbishop  of  Mechlin  on 
the  subject.  He  entered  into  their  plan ;  but  the 
abbess,  though  she  approved  of  the  design,  was  unwil- 
ling to  part  with  either  of  the  ladies,  with  whom  it  had 
originated.  These,  however,  ultimately  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  commission  ;  and  the  protection  of  both 
the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  Ghent  having 
been  secured,  a  small  house  was  taken  for  the  new 
colony  in  that  city.  On  the  16th  of  January,  1624,  the 
four  religious,  with  two  novices,  left  Brussels,  and 
entered  Ghent  the  following  morning,  destitute  of  all 
means  of  support,  and  wholly  relying  on  Divine  Provi- 
dence. In  a  few  days  the  Bishop  of  Ghent  repaired 
to  the  new  convent,  and  assured  its  fervent  inmates  of 
his  paternal  protection.  The  suffrages  of  the  members 
were  then  taken,  and  Dame  Lucy  Knatchbull  was 
unanimously  chosen  abbess.  She  was  solemnly  blessed 
and  installed  on  the  feast  of  their  holy  patron  St.  Bene- 
dict, in  the  same  year  1624.  In  the  following  month, 
these  nuns  were  joined  by  two  others  ;  and  before   the 


BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  GHENT.  67 


end  of  the  year,  they  numbered  two  and  twenty  inmates. 
By  then-  accession,  the  means  for  their  support  in- 
creased: but  it  also  became  necessary  to  seek  more 
extensive  accommodation.  They  purchased  ground 
near  the  Benedictin  abbey  of  St.  Peter,  where  they 
erected  a  house  and  a  church ;  and  removed  to  their 
new  habitation  on  the  5th  of  August,  1628.  During 
the  exile  of  Charles  II.  both  the  king  and  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  York,  frequently  visited  this  monastery. 
Charles  made  them  numerous  presents,  and  settled  on 
them  an  annuity  of  £500.  James  II.  was  converted  at 
Ghent  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  on  his  succeeding 
to  the  throne,  intended  to  establish  them  as  the  first 
monastery  in  his  kingdom. 

The  community  appear  to  have  remained  in  the  same 
house  at  Ghent,  until  the  year  1794.  The  chief  maga- 
zine of  corn  and  bread  of  the  late  Duke  of  York  was  in 
their  convent,  during  the  campaign  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. They  received  on  every  occasion  the  kindest 
protection  from  his  royal  highness,  and  the  greatest 
respect  and  civility  from  the  British  officers  and  soldiers 
in  general.  Having  received  a  friendly  intimation  from 
an  English  nobleman,  that  they  could  no  longer  remain 


I 


I 


68  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  LAMBSPRING. 

in  Ghent  with  safety,  they  quitted  it  in  separate  parties, 
and  by  the  care  and  generosity  of  a  gentleman  in  Lan- 
cashire, were  enabled  to  reach  their  native  country. 
They  were  assembled  again  in  a  temporary  residence  in 
Lancashire,  and  in  1795  settled  at  Preston,  where  they 
opened  their  school  for  young  ladies.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1811,  the  community  removed  to  the 
venerable  building,  of  quite  monastic  appearance, 
which  they  had  purchased,  and  where  they  have 
ever  since  continued,  Caverswall  Castle,  near  Stone, 
Staffordshire. 

4. 

BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  LAIMBSPRING. 

The  Benedictin  abbey  at  Lambspring  was  originally 
a  nunnery  of  the  same  Order,  founded  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. It  was  given  to  the  English  congregation  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Benedict,  in  the  year  1630,  as  an  establish- 
ment for  its  female  members.  But  by  the  authority, 
or  influence  of  Ferdinand,  elector  of  Cologn,  and 
lord  of  Hildesheim,  the  nuns  were  afterwards  removed ; 
it  was  taken  possession  of  by  English  Benedictin 
monks. 


5. 

BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  PARIS. 

This  was  a  filiation  from  Cambray,  as  that  of  Cambray 
had  been  from  Brussels.  Dame  Clementina  Gary, 
daughter  of  Viscount  Falkland,  who  was  a  religious  in 
the  convent  at  Cambray,  coming  to  Paris,  with  per- 
mission, for  the  cure  of  a  disorder,  in  the  year  1651, 
obtained  by  means  of  Henrietta  Maria,  Queen  of  the 
unfortunate  Charles  I.  and  of  the  Abbe  Montague,  that 
a  monastery  of  Benedictin  nuns  should  be  established 
in  Paris.  Five  nuns  from  Cambray  were  sent  to  assist 
her  in  beginning  this  pious  foundation,  two  of  whom 
returned  afterwards  to  Cambray.  Dame  Bridget  More 
was  installed  the  first  abbess ;  the  foundress  Dame 
Clementina  Cary  having  out  of  humility  declined 
that  dignity.  After  occupying  five  difierent  houses, 
the  community  in  March  1664,  with  the  assistance  of 
their  friends,  purchased  the  convent  which  they  finally 
occupied  in  the  Rue  du  Champ  de  L'Alouette,  Faux- 
bourg  St.  Marcel. 

On   the  3rd  of  October,    1793,    they    were    made 
prisoners   in   their   own    house,    and   deprived    of    all 


70  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  PARIS, 


communication  with  persons  out  of  it.  A  month 
after,  this  convent  was  turned  into  a  common  jail,  and 
filled  with  prisoners.  Here  the  poor  nuns  endured  the 
greatest  hardships,  and  daily  witnessed  the  most  dis- 
tressing scenes.  Whole  families  at  a  time  were  dragged 
from  their  convent  to  the  guillotine ;  and  they  expected 
no  better  fate  for  themselves.  But  on  the  1 5th  of  July, 
they  were  removed  in  the  night,  in  six  coaches  to  the 
Castle  of  Vincennes.  Here  they  were  locked  up  by 
day,  as  well  as  by  night,  in  narrow  cells,  without  being 
able  to  see  out  of  their  windows.  After  four  months  of 
this  rigorous  confinement,  they  were  taken  back  to 
Paris  in  a  cart;  and  were  at  length  brought  to  the 
convent  of  Austin  nuns  in  the  Fosse  St.  Victor,  who 
were  also  prisoners  in  their  own  house,  but  had  been 
less  harshly  treated.  On  the  first  of  March,  1795,  they 
regained  their  liberty,  but  could  only  recover  part  of 
their  linen  and  furniture.  By  the  sale  of  these,  they 
raised  supplies  for  their  journey ;  and  having  obtained 
passports  with  much  difficulty,  they  left  Paris  June  19th, 
and  arrived  in  London  July  5,  1795.  They  settled  in 
the  same  year  at  Marnhull,  in  Dorsetshire.  In  1807, 
they  removed  to   Cannington,   near   Bridgewater;    in 


BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  PONTOISE.  71 

1836  they  came  to  Aston  Hall,  Staffordshire,  and  in 
1837,  finally  settled  at  St.  Benedict's  Priory,  Great 
Heywood,  Staffordshire. 

6 

BENEDICTIN   ABBEY   AT   PONTOISE. 

The  convent  of  English  Benedictin  nuns  at  Pontoise 
was  a  filiation  from  their  establishment  at  Ghent,  as 
that  also  had  been  from  the  abbey  at  Brussels.  At  first 
they  were  established  at  Boulogne,  in  1652,  whither  six 
religious  were  sent,  one  of  whom  appears  to  have  been 
a  lay  sister.  This  new  foundation  was  principally  ac- 
complished through  the  munificence  of  Sir  Richard 
Foster,  treasurer  to  the  queen  mother,  who  bestowed 
upon  the  community  20,000  livres.  The  bishop,  after 
examining  their  constitutions,  approved  them ;  and 
they  were  encouraged  and  patronized  both  by  his  lord- 
ship, and  the  inhabitants  of  the  town.  Their  situation, 
however,  at  Boulogne  was  rendered  unpleasant  by  other 
circumstances,  which  induced  them  to  remove  to  Pon- 
toise in  1658.  They  obtained  a  settlement  there  by  the 
interest  of  the  Abbe  Montague  ;  their  former  bene- 
factor, Sir  Richard  Foster  adding  30,000  livres  to  his 


72  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT   DUNKIRK. 


former  donation,  for  this  purpose.  The  first  abbess 
was  Catherine  Wigmore,  who  died  in  1656,  while  the 
community  was  still  at  Boulogne.  Many  ladies  distin- 
guished by  birth  as  well  as  piety,  retired  from  the  world 
to  serve  God  in  the  monastery  of  Pontoise  ;  some  of 
them  of  royal  extraction.  Their  last  abbess  was 
daughter  of  N.  Clavering,  Esq.  of  Callaly  Castle, 
Northumberland.  The  necessities  of  the  convent  be- 
came so  ui'gent  at  that  time,  that  it  became  necessary  to 
break  up  the  estabKshment ;  and  the  archbishop  gave 
permission  to  the  religious  to  retire  to  any  other  con- 
vents. The  abbess,  with  six  other  nuns,  retired  to  the 
community  of  their  order  at  Dunkirk,  in  the  year  1784; 
and  were  afterwards  joined  by  others  of  their  former 
companions,  where  they  continued  in  peace  and  happi- 
ness till  the  fatal  event  of  the  French  revolution. 

7. 
BENEDICTIN   ABBEY  AT  DUNKIRK. 

The  convent  of  English  Benedictin  nuns  at  Ghent 
having  exceedingly  increased  in  numbers,  the  abbess. 
Lady  Mary  Knatchbull,  niece  of  Lady  Lucy,  their  first 
abbess,  obtained  permission  of  the  English  government 


BENEDICTIN    ABBEY    AT    DUNKIRK. 


in   1662,  to  establish  a  new    convent   in  the  town  of 

Dunkirk,  which  was  then  in  possession  of  the  Enghsh. 

When  King  Charles  JI.  and  his  brother  James,  then 

Duke  of  York,  were  in  exile  in  the  Low  Countries, 

they  had  received  great  hospitality  from  the  community 

at  Ghent ;  and  the  abbess  had  rendered  valuable  service 

to  the  royal  cause.     The  king,    after   his  restoration, 

acknowledged  his  obligations  in  a  letter  to  the  abbess, 

and  made  some  presents  to  the  community,  with  great 

promises  of  support  and  assistance.     Finding  however 

that  his  majesty  did  nothing  further,  the  lady  abbess, 

Mary  Knatchbull,  by  the  advice  of  her  friends,  and  with 

consent  of  the  bishop,  left  Ghent  at  the  end  of  October 

1661,  with  Rev.  Mr.  Gerrard,  Dame  Mary  Carrille,  and 

a  lay  sister,  and  proceeded  to  England,  to  sm'prise  the 

king  by  a  personal  visit.    His  majesty  received  her  with 

great  favour,  and  assigned  her  £3000 ;  besides  which 

she  received  many  valuable  presents.     Having  obtained 

the  sanction  of  the  English  government,  twelve  of  the 

community  of  Ghent  removed  to   Dunkirk,  on  the  8th 

of  May,  1662.     Most  of  these  were  of  ancient  families, 

as  Nevill,  Fortescue,  Savage,  Stanley,  Webb,  Heneage, 

Carrille,  Pordage,  Eyre,  and  others.     They  purchased  a 

K 


74  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  DUNKIRK. 


house,  with  the  assistance  of  several  English  noblemen, 
on  the  site  of  which  they  built  a  complete  and  handsome 
convent.  Dame  Mary  Carrille,  or  Caryl,  presided  over 
this  community  for  the  first  two  years,  as  prioress ;  and 
then  being  elected  abbess,  governed  them  forty-nine 
years,  leaving  at  her  departure  forty-six  choir  nuns. 
She  was  succeeded  by  abbess  Fleetwood,  who  died  in 
1748,  abbess  Fermor,  who  died  in  1764,  abbess  Engle- 
field,  who  died  in  1777,  and  abbess  Prujean.  Under 
the  government  of  this  lady,  the  dreadful  effects  of  the 
French  Revolution  were  experienced  by  this  com- 
munity, as  by  every  other  religious  establishment. 

In  the  fatal  year  1793,  the  church  of  their  convent 
was  seized  upon  for  the  meetings  of  the  Jacobin  club  of 
Dunkirk;  and  on  the  13th  of  October,  these  ladies  were 
turned  out  of  their  convent  at  a  few  hours'  notice,  and 
tlieir  property  sequestered.  They  had  no  time,  nor 
conveyances,  to  bring  away  even  their  clothes,  but  were 
obliged  to  hurry  their  departure,  and  pass  through  the 
ranks  of  soldiers  to  the  coaches  sent  for  them.  They 
were  conveyed  to  the  convent  of  the  Poor  Clares,  in  the 
same  town  ;  but  these  underwent  the  same  treatment 
only  four  days  later,  and  both  communities  were  sent  off 


to  the  Poor  Clares  at  Gravelines.  They  were  conveyed 
in  a  wretched  boat,  which  could  scarcely  contain  them 
and  the  fifty  soldiers  who  guarded  them,  so  that  they 
were  in  great  danger  of  being  drowned.  Some  months 
after,  they  recovered  some  part  of  their  poor  clothing  ; 
but  the  three  communities  thus  imprisoned  together, 
endured  the  greatest  hardships,  were  kept  in  continual 
alarm,  and  must  have  perished  through  want,  had  they 
not  received  charitable  supplies  from  charitable  friends, 
particularly  of  Gravelines.  In  this  state  they  barely 
existed  for  eighteen  months  :  indeed  two  of  the  Bene- 
dictin  community  died  during  their  confinement.  The 
Convention  declared  them  at  liberty,  while  they  kept 
them  in  confinement ;  and  it  was  not  till  after  repeated 
applications,  that  they  obtained  permission  to  return  to 
England.  At  length  they  embarked  at  Calais,  on  the 
30th  of  April,  and  arrived  in  London,  May  3rd,  1795. 
They  betook  themselves  to  their  several  friends,  till  a 
house  could  be  provided  for  them.  On  the  8th  of  May, 
however,  the  abbess  Prujean,  with  some  of  the  com- 
munity, took  possession  of  the  convent  at  Hammer- 
smith ;  but  the  whole  community  did  not  assemble  till 
September  29,   of  the   same   year.      Since  that  time 


76  BENEDICTIN  ABBEY  AT  IPRES. 


they  have  continued  all  their  conventual  duties,  and 
received  young  ladies  for  education.  The  abbess 
Prujean  died  in  1812,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  abbess 
Mai'y  Placida  Messenger.  Since  her  decease  in  1828, 
the  community  has  been  governed  by  the  abbess  Mary 
Placida  Selby. 

8. 
BENEDICTIN    ABBEY    AT    IPRES. 

This  was  another  filiation  from  Ghent.  It  was 
founded  in  the  year  1665,  on  the  22nd  of  May.  The 
first  abbess  was  Lady  Mary  Beaumont,  who  was 
solemnly  blessed  in  the  cathedral  of  Ipres,  by  the 
bishop,  Martin  de  Praet,  in  the  year  1669.  The  abbess 
Knatchbull  of  the  Benedictin  abbey  at  Ghent,  whence 
this  colony  had  proceeded,  had  always  intended  this 
house  for  a  community  of  Irish  Benedictin  nuns ;  and 
accordingly,  in  the  year  1683,  she  invited  some  of  the 
Irish  religious,  professed  in  different  monasteries  of  the 
English  congregation,  to  the  establishment  at  Ipres. 
From  that  time  it  became  an  Irish  establishment, 
and  removed  to  Dublin  in  1688  by  invitation  of  king 
James  II.  In  1690,  the  community  returned  to  Ipres, 
where  they  have  ever  since  continued. 


III. 

BKIDGETTINS. 

BRIDGETTIN  CONVENT  OF  SION  HOUSE. 

The  convent  of  the  Order  of  St.  Bridget  is  the  only 
English  nunnery  which  has  continued  without  disper- 
sion since  the  Reformation.  There  was  only  one  great 
monastery  of  the  Bridgettin  Order  in  England.  It  was 
called  Sion  House,  and  situated  in  Middlesex,  near  the 
Thames,  about  ten  miles  from  London ;  having  been 
founded  by  king  Henry  V.  in  1413.  It  was  one  of  the 
first  houses  dissolved  by  Henry  VIII.  Queen  Mary 
restored  it  to  its  former  owners,  and  founded  the  monas- 
tery anew,  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  of  her  reign, 
recalling  its  members  from  Dermond  in  Flanders, 
whither  they  had  retired.  But  on  the  accession  of 
Elizabeth,  it  was  again  dissolved.  The  nuns,  twenty  in 
number,  having  obtained  a  safe  conduct  of  Elizabeth, 
through  the  Spanish  ambassador,  the  Duke  of  Feria, 
left  England  in  1559,  with  their  abbess,  Catherine 
Palmer,  and  first  retired  to  their  former  asylum  at 
Dermond.  In  1563,  they  removed  to  a  house  bestowed 
on  them  by  the  Duchess  of  Parma  in  Ziiric-Zee,  the 


capital  of  Zealand.  But  the  unwholesomeness  of  the 
situation  obliged  them  to  remove  again  ;  and  in  1567 
they  purchased  a  place  near  Antwerp,  called  Mesaghan, 
where  they  remained  near  five  years.  Subsequently 
they  removed  to  Mechlin,  and  then  to  Rouen  in  1580. 
Here  they  were  hospitably  received,  provided  with  a 
house,  and  enabled  to  build  a  church.  In  addition  to 
their  pension  from  Spain  of  1200  florins,  the  parliament 
voted  them  an  allowance  ;  and  they  rested  here  for 
fourteen  years.  But  on  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.  to 
the  throne  of  France,  the  community  became  objects  of 
suspicion  ;  their  allowance  was  withdrawn,  and  they 
found  it  expedient  to  retire  to  Lisbon. 

They  left  Rouen,  March  29,  1594,  and  proceeded  to 
Havre  de  Grace,  whence  they  embarked  on  the  5th  of 
May,  and  after  a  passage  of  fifteen  days,  arrived  at 
Lisbon.  They  were  fifteen  professed  nuns,  and  one 
novice ;  .and  were  accompanied  by  three  fathers  of  their 
Order.  At  Lisbon  they  met  with  a  most  kind  and 
hospitable  reception  from  the  Franciscan  nuns  of  the 
monastery  of  our  Lady  of  Hope ;  and  in  that  convent 
they  lived  till  they  received  from  a  noble  lady  a  gift  of 
some  houses  and  grounds  in  the  place  called  Mocambo, 


BRIDGETTIN  NUNS  OF  SION  HOUSE.  79 

where  they  built  their  church  and  monastery.  King 
Philip  II.  endowed  them  with  a  pension  of  the  value  of 
lis.  nd.  per  diem  of  English  money,  besides  thirty 
quarters  of  wheat  annually,  from  the  revenue  of  the  fens 
belonging  to  the  crown  at  Santarem.  Their  spiritual 
wants  were  supplied  by  two  secular  priests  ;  one  of 
whom  also  administered  the  temporal  concerns  of  the 
community.  On  the  17th  of  August,  1651,  both  their 
church  and  monastery  were  burnt  to  the  ground  ;  and 
the  good  Franciscan  nuns  again  afforded  them  an 
asylum  for  five  years.  In  the  same  year,  however, 
October  2nd,  1651,  the  first  stone  was  laid  for  the 
foundation  of  the  new  building,  and  the  religious 
returned  to  their  old  locality  in  1656. 

They  remained  secure  in  their  peaceful  abode  till  the 
year  1810,  when  the  disturbed  state  of  afiairs  on  the 
continent,  and  the  privations  they  had  suffered,  induced 
some  of  them  to  seek  refuge  in  England,  their  native 
country.  Here  they  opened  a  school  at  Peckliam  in 
Surrey,  calling  their  establishment  by  the  old  and 
venerable  name  of  Sion  House.  Their  school  continued 
here  about  four  years  ;  and  they  afterwards  removed  to 
Somerstown.     Thence  they  went  to  reside  at  Cobridge 


80  BRIDGETTIN   NUNS  OF  SIGN  HGUSE. 


Cottage,  near  Newcastle,  in  Staffordshire.  This  was  in 
April  1822.  They  were  only  five  in  number  at  that 
time,  including  their  abbess,  Elizabeth  Furnes.  They 
left  Cobridge  in  September  1829,  to  reside  at  Aston 
Hall,  near  Stone,  in  the  same  county.  They  dwindled 
down  at  length  to  two  lay  sisters,  who  left  Aston  in 
March  1837  ;  one  lived  in  lodgings  at  Newcastle-under- 
Lyme,  the  other  with  the  Benedictin  nuns  at  Win- 
chester, whither  two  of  the  choir  nuns  had  retired  some 
time  before.  Thus  that  portion  of  the  Bridgettins  who 
had  come  over  from  Lisbon  became  extinct ;  but  the 
remainder  still  exist  at  Lisbon. 


IV. 

POOR  CLARES 

1. 

CONVENT  OF  POOR  CLARES  AT  GRAVELINES. 

This  first  convent  of  nuns  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis 
was  established  through  the  zeal  of  Mrs.  Mary  Ward, 
who  entered  a  French  convent  of  Poor  Clares  at 
St.  Omer  in  1607.  Hearing  of  certain  lands  at  Grave- 
lines,  lately  bequeathed  for  a  rehgious  foundation,  she 
made  interest  with  the  bishop  of  St.  Omer,  and  the 
abbot  of  St.  Bertins,  to  procure  them  for  the  purpose 
of  founding  a  monastery  of  English  Poor  Clares. 
Mrs.  Ward  proceeded  to  Brussels,  and  there  obtained 
of  the  Austrian  Archduke  the  necessary  grant  for 
executing  her  pious  project  at  Gravelines;  but  he  gave 
this  permission  upon  the  conditions  that  the  proposed 
convent  should  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop, 
and  not  chargeable  to  the  inhabitants.  The  approbation 
of  the  Pope  was  next  obtained  ;  who  in  a  brief  to  the 
bishop  of  St.  Omer,  directed  him  to  take  charge  of  the 
establishment,  and  afford  every  assistance  to  the  reli- 


gious  who  should  commence  the  undertaking.  The 
Rev.  John  Gennings,  a  Franciscan  of  that  branch  of  the 
Order,  called  Recollects,  had  a  great  share  in  the  foun- 
dation of  the  monastery  at  Gravelines.  Mrs.  Ward 
collected  together  several  English  ladies,  and  procured 
the  bishop's  authority  to  receive  such  English  nuns 
as  had  been  professed  in  a  French  convent  at  St.  Omer. 
Among  these  was  Mary  Gough,  who  was  chosen  supe- 
rior of  the  new  convent,  Clare  Fowler,  Lucy  Darrel, 
and  two  lay-sisters.  These  took  possession  of  the  house 
at  Gravelines,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1609.  This 
being  too  small,  they  built  one  more  complete,  by  the 
assistance  of  various  kind  friends,  in  1611 ;  their  church 
being  erected  by  one  of  the  Gage  family.  Many  holy 
souls,  unknown  to  the  world,  practised  in  this  convent 
the  exercises  of  an  interior  life.  The  discipline  of  the 
house  was  the  subject  of  general  admiration,  while  the 
virtues  of  its  inmates  were  a  constant  source  of  edifica- 
tion to  the  surrounding  neighbourhood.  The  com- 
munity in  1624  numbered  sixty-five  members.  The 
lives  of  two  eminent  members  of  this  convent  have  been 
published  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Edward  Scarsbrick,  who 
were  Lady  Warner,  called  in  religion  Sr.  Clare  of  Jesus, 


POOR  CLARES   OF  GRAVELINES.  83 


and  her  sister-in-law,  Elizabeth  Warner,  called  Sr.  Mary 
Clare.  The  former  became  a  convert  with  her  hus- 
band. Sir  John  Warner,  and  both  embraced  a  religious 
state,  he  becoming  a  Jesuit,  and  she  a  Poor  Clare  ;  and 
both  made  their  religious  profession  on  the  same  day, 
November  1,  1667,  in  the  church  of  this  convent. 

At  the  disastrous  epoch  of  the  French  Revolution,  this 
convent  was  surrounded  with  guards,  on  the  12th  of 
October,  1793,  and  the  papers  and  property  of  the  nuns 
seized.  Five  days  after,  the  two  communities  of  Bene- 
dictins  and  Poor  Clares  from  Dunkirk  were  brought 
prisoners  to  this  convent,  consisting  in  all  of  forty-two 
persons,  making  their  whole  number  seventy-seven  pri- 
soners. A  few  days  after  this,  commissioners  arrived,  and 
effaced  all  pictures  and  tokens  of  royalty  and  nobility, 
both  within  and  without  the  enclosure  ;  and  likewise 
secured  all  the  sacred  vessels,  vestments  and  ornaments, 
and  shut  and  sealed  up  the  church  and  sacristy.  For 
eighteen  months  the  three  communities  were  confined 
together,  and  suffered  severe  privations  and  various  a-fflic- 
tions,  particularly  from  the  want  of  fuel  in  a  very  severe 
winter.  They  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  cutting 
up  the  cupboards  and  wainscoting  of  the  house,  and 


84  POOR  CLARES   AT   DUNKIRK. 


even  the  trees  of  the  garden  to  obtain  firing.  They 
were  allowed  only  a  very  small  sum  daily,  amounting  to 
no  more  than  twopence  of  English  money.  At  length 
they  were  declared  at  liberty  ;  but  seeing  no  prospect 
of  an  end  to  their  miseries  where  they  were,  they 
petitioned  for  passports  to  return  to  England.  They 
quitted  Gravelines  April  29th,  1795,  sailed  from  Calais 
on  the  30th,  and  arrived  in  London  on  the  3rd  of  May. 
They  received  numberless  proofs  of  charity  and  kind- 
ness on  their  arrival,  many  of  them  from  persons 
unknown  to  them;  but  to  one  illustrious  family  in 
particular,  including  its  worthy  chaplain,  they  were 
indebted  principally  for  their  support  in  London,  as 
well  as  for  their  first  house  of  retirement  in  the 
country,  which  was  at  Gosfield  in  Essex.  Afterwards 
they  removed  to  Coxside,  Plymouth ;  and  thence  they 
went  to  join  the  community  at  Clare  Lodge,  Catterick, 
Yorkshire. 

2. 

POOR  CLARES  AT  DUNKIRK. 

In  the  year  1623,  four  nuns  were  sent  out  from  the 
original  English  convent  of  Poor  Clares  at  Gravelines, 


POOR  CLARES  AT  DUNKIRK.  85 

to  solicit  assistance,  when  from  fire  and  other  misfor- 
tunes that  house  had  greatly  suffered,  and  was  brought 
into  great  difficulties.  These  were  sisters  Ann  Ludovica 
Browne,  Mary  Evangelist  Clark,  Ann  Clare  Anderson, 
and  Clare  Francis  Rockwood,  afterwards  joined  by 
another,  Sr.  Mary  Collet  Rockwood.  They  first  set  up 
a  school  at  Dunkirk  ;  and  afterwards  with  the  approba- 
tion of  the  bishop  and  governor,  converted  their  school 
into  a  convent,  and  by  due  authority  elected  sister 
A.  L.  Browne  their  first  abbess.  She  was  niece  of 
Viscount  Montague,  and  possessed  great  piety,  pru- 
dence, and  humility.  This  occurred  in  the  year  1654, 
and  two  years  after  the  nuns  retired  to  Ghent,  Dunkirk 
having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  They  were 
encouraged,  however,  to  return  in  the  same  year,  and 
proceeded  to  erect  a  new  convent  on  the  same  spot, 
where  they  had  before  resided.  By  the  benefactions  of 
friends,  and  the  pensions  of  their  school,  they  supported 
themselves,  in  the  frugal  way  which  befitted  their  state 
of  holy  poverty,  until  they  were  involved  in  the  miseries 
of  the  French  Revolution.  In  September,  1793,  their 
spiritual  director.  Rev.  Mr.  Apedale  was  arrested ;  and 
on  the  evening  of  October  13,  the  Benedictin  dames  of 


86  POOR  CLARES  AT  AIRE. 

the  same  town  were  transferred  to  this  convent.  They 
were  all  strictly  guarded ;  and  on  the  16th  were  trans- 
ferred together  to  the  convent  of  their  sisters  at  Grave- 
lines.  When  at  last  they  required  their  liberty,  and 
returned  to  their  native  country,  they  were  provided 
with  a  house  at  Church-Hill,  near  Worcester,  by  the 
liberality  of  the  Berkeley  family  of  Spetchley.  There 
they  continued  about  twenty  years,  and  gradually  be- 
came extinct. 

3. 

POOR   CLARES    AT   AIRE. 

This  first  filiation  from  the  original  house  at  Grave- 
lines,  went  forth  in  the  year  1629.  Their  establishment 
was  brought  about  chiefly  by  means  of  Father  Francis  of 
St.  Clare,  ahas  Christopher  Davenport.  On  the  19th  of 
May,  1629,  Margaret  Radcliffe,  called  in  religion  Sister 
Margaret  of  St.  Paul,  arrived  at  Aire,  to  preside  as 
abbess  over  the  new  community  of  twenty -four  persons, 
who  had  preceded  her,  from  the  convent  at  Gravelines. 
They  were  lodged  at  first  in  what  is  called  the  king's 
hall ;  till  their  convent  being  ready  for  enclosure, 
F.  Francis  of  St.  Clare  held  a  visitation  of  the  members, 


POOR  CLARES  AT  AIRE.  87 


and  a  new  election  took  place,  of  superiors,  and  those 
who  were  to  fill  the  various  offices  in  the  convent.  The 
same  abbess  was  re-elected,  and  the  members  consisted 
of  eighiteen  choir  nuns,  two  novices,  and  three  lay 
sisters.  The  piety  and  virtues  of  this  community  at  all 
times  endeared  them  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  little 
town  of  Aire. 

From  the  year  1793,  these  holy  sisters  had  been 
hardly  a  day  without  apprehension ;  but  they  continued 
in  their  convent.  However,  on  the  20th  of  February, 
1798,  their  chaplain,  F.  Kington,  was  arrested,  and  the 
whole  community  shared  the  same  fate  on  the  24th ; 
and  were  confined  under  guard  in  their  convent,  suffer- 
ing great  privations  till  the  27th  of  June,  when  they 
were  turned  out  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  without  money 
or  passports,  to  seek  an  asylum  wherever  they  could. 
They  were  harboured  with  great  kindness  in  different 
houses  of  the  inhabitants.  They  obtained  passports  for 
England  on  the  1 4th  of  August,  and  quitted  the  town 
September  4th,  1798.  They  reached  Calais  the  same 
evening,  and  arrived  at  Dover  September  1 1th.  Twelve 
of  the  nuns  reached  London  on  the  13th,  and  the  rest, 
with  their  chaplain,   on  the  day  following.     In  1800, 


88  POOR  CLARES  AT  ROUEN. 


they  were  settled  at  Britwell  House,  near  Watlington, 
Oxfordshire.  They  afterwards  removed  to  Coxside, 
Plymouth  ;  whence  they  repaired  to  Gravelines  in 
1834,  but  quitted  it  in  1836,  and  joined  the  community, 
formerly  of  Rouen,  now  at  Scorton,  near  Catterick, 
Yorkshire. 

4. 

POOR  CLARES   AT   ROUEN. 

A  colony  was  sent  forth  from  the  original  establish- 
ment of  Poor  Clares  at  Gravelines,  in  the  year  1648, 
to  form  a  separate  convent  at  Rouen.  It  consisted 
of  fifteen  religious,  among  whom  were  Sisters  Mary 
Taylor,  Ignatia  Bedingfeld,  Winefrid  GifFard,  M.  Mag- 
dalen Browne,  and  Clare  Perkins.  They  were  much 
encouraged  by  the  inhabitants  of  Rouen,  and  received 
still  more  effectual  support  from  king  Charles  II.  his 
queen,  and  other  royal  and  noble  benefactors,  amongst 
whom  Lords  Montague,  Petre,  and  Arundell,  and  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Petre  were  conspicuous.  The  three  ladies 
above  mentioned  were  in  succession  the  first  abbesses  of 
this  convent,  which  was  protected  by  letters  patent  from 
the  king  of  France  in  1650,     Sr.  Mary  of  the  Holy 


POOH  CLARES  AT  ROUEN.  89 


Cross,  of  the  noble  family  of  the  Howards,  was  among 
those  who  attained  a  high  degree  of  sanctity  in  this  con- 
vent. Her  life  was  composed  and  published  by  the 
venerable  and  learned  Albari  Butler. 

This  community  continued  respected  for  the  strict- 
ness and  fervour  with  which  they  uniformly  observed 
their  austere  rule,  till  they  were  called  to  suffer  with 
the  rest  of  their  pious  countrywomen,  under  the  tjTanny 
of  the  French  revolutionists.  They  were  arrested  on 
the  2nd  of  October,  1793  ;  their  effects  confiscated,  and 
the  deeds  of  their  establishment  obliged  to  be  sur- 
rendered. Their  church  ornaments,  crosses,  religious 
memorials,  and  everything  relating  to  religion  were  car- 
ried away  or  demolished.  Their  convent  was  made  a 
common  prison,  in  which  320  persons  were  confined  ; 
the  nuns  themselves  being  shut  up  in  granaries  and 
other  inconvenient  parts  of  the  convent.  In  the  follow- 
ing Spring,  they  were  removed  to  a  different  prison, 
called  St.  Mary's,  which  contained  above  700  prisoners. 
Here  they  sufiered  dreadfully  from  want -of  room,  fresh 
air,  food  and  even  water ;  and  were  left  to  languish 
under  these  terrible  privations  till  the  18th  of  January, 
1795,  when  they  were  allowed  to  quit  their  confinement. 

M 


90  RELIGIOUS  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  AT  BRUGES. 

They  were  refused  permission  to  return  to  their  con- 
vent, and  seeing  no  prospect  for  them  in  France  but 
persecution  and  starvation,  they  resolved  to  throw 
themselves  on  the  compassion  and  charity  of  their 
countrymen.  They  came  over  in  parties,  till  all  were 
happily  landed  in  England,  in  the  month  of  September, 
1795,  being  in  number  forty-three.  They  settled  first 
at  Haggerstone  Castle,  Belford,  Northumberland ;  and 
in  1808,  removed  thence  to  Scorton  Hall,  near  Catterick, 
Yorkshire ;  where  they  now  remain,  their  establish- 
ment being  called  St.  Clare's  convent. 

5. 

RELIGIOUS  OF  THE  THIRD  ORDER  OF  ST.  FRANCIS 

AT  BRUGES. 

This  convent  of  St.  Elizabeth  was  first  established  at 
Brussels,  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  two  Franciscan 
Fathers,  Gennings  and  Davenport,  in  the  year  1621. 
Their  first  superior  was  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wilcox,  who 
with  five  others  made  her  profession  in  1622.  They 
removed  in  1637  to  Nieuport,  in  Flanders,  on  account 
of  the  dearness  of  the  necessaries  of  life  at  Brussels. 
Thence  in  1662,  they  retired  to  Bruges,  to  the  ancient 


CONCEPTIONIST  NUNS  AT  PARIS. 


91 


palace  called  PrincenhofF;  but  were  not  fully  settled 
there  till  the  1st  of  March  following.  They  were 
employed  in  the  education  of  young  ladies ;  and  con- 
tinued their  peaceful  and  holy  course  of  life,  till  in  the 
month  of  June,  1794,  they  were  alarmed  by  the  report 
of  the  near  approach  of  the  French.  Having  com- 
mended themselves  to  Almighty  God  in  the  holy  sacri- 
fice, they  left  their  beloved  convent,  and  arrived  at 
Rotterdam  on  the  30th  of  June.  They  took  shelter  the 
day  following  at  Delft  ;  but  on  the  23rd  of  July  they 
embarked  for  England.  They  landed  August  7th,  at 
Greenwich,  and  proceeded  to  London.  They  settled 
in  the  same  year  at  the  abbey  house  at  Winchester; 
but  in  1808  removed  to  Taunton  Lodge,  where  they 
still  remain. 

6. 


CONCEPTIONISTS    AT   PARIS,    COMMONLY    CALLED 
THE  BLUE   NUNS. 

The  nuns  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  had 
been  settled  for  some  years  at  Nieuport  in  Flanders,  as 
related  in  the  preceding  article,  having  entered  their 
house  there  with  forty  in  community  in  the  year  1637. 


92 


CONCEPTIONIST  NUNS  AT  PARIS. 


About  twenty  years  afterwards,  ten  of  their  number 
were  sent  to  form  a  filiation  in  Paris.  The  Rev.  Mother 
Angela  Jerningham  was  appointed  their  abbess.  They 
met  with  many  friends,  both  English  and  French.  For 
about  two  years,  they  were  but  indifferently  accom- 
modated in  a  house  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques  ;  but  they 
borrowed  money  to  purchase  a  more  convenient  place  in 
the  Fauxbourg  St.  Antoine ;  and  gradually  repaid  the 
sum  out  of  the  fortunes  of  their  novices.  They  built 
a  small  chapel  adjoining  their  convent.  They  were 
encouraged  and  assisted  by  the  Cardinal  de  Retz,  and 
his  successor  in  the  archbishopric  of  Paris,  Monseigneur 
Hardouin  de  Perefixe.  This  latter  however  obliged 
them  to  submit  to  his  jurisdiction  ;  and  in  consequence, 
they  exchanged  their  previous  rule  for  that  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which 
they  did  by  permission  of  the  sovereign  pontiff  Alex- 
ander VII.  They  put  on  the  habit  and  took  the  vows 
of  this  rule,  on  the  feast  of  the  Conception,  in  the  year 
1661.  The  first  abbess,  Angela  Jerningham,  after  being 
in  office  a  little  more  than  two  years,  was  permitted,  at 
her  own  request,  to  retire  to  Bruges,  with  her  sister 
Mary  Ignatia  and  two  others.     She  was  succeeded  by 


CONCEPTIONIST  NUNS  AT  PARIS.  93 

Elizabeth  Ann  Tymperley  ;  and  the  third  superior  was 
Susanna  Hawkins.  Like  several  other  communities, 
these  religious  employed  themselves  in  the  education  of 
young  ladies.  At  the  French  Revolution,  they  were 
compelled  to  fly  to  their  native  land,  and  about  six  of 
them  were  most  generously  received  by  Sir  William 
Jerningham,  at  Cossey  Hall,  near  Norwich.  A  resi- 
dence was  provided  for  them  afterwards  in  the  city 
of  Norwich  ;  others  being  distributed  in  different 
places.     But  in  a  few  years  they  all  died  away. 


V. 

DOMINICANESSES  AT  BRUSSELS. 

This  was  the  only  community  of  English  nuns  of  the 
order  of  St.  Dominic.  It  was  founded  by  Cardinal 
Philip  Howard,  of  the  Norfolk  family.  At  first  he 
established  them  at  Vilvorde,  seven  miles  from  Brussels. 
His  own  sister  Henrietta,  consecrating  herself  to  God, 
became  their  first  prioress.  Several  of  the  noble  family 
of  the  Howards  became  nuns  in  this  convent,  besides 
many  other  ladies  of  distinction.  In  the  year  1690, 
they  were  removed  by  their  noble  patron  to  a  large  old 
mansion  in  Brussels,  called  the  Spellekens,  having  a 
spacious  garden  attached  to  it.  Their  house,  however, 
threatening  ruin  about  the  year  1777,  they  built  a  hand- 
some new  convent  and  church  in  the  upper  part  of  their 
garden.  Originally  these  religious  were  not  employed 
in  education;  but  the  edict  of  Joseph  II.  in  178^, 
threatening  the  suppression  of  all  convents  of  nuns  not 
so  employed,  obliged  them  to  procure  scholars.  By 
this  means  they  remained  unmolested,  and  in  the  peace- 
ful enjoyment  of  a  religious  life  till  the  fatal  period  of 
the  French  revolution. 


DOMINICANESSES  AT  BRUSSELS.  95 

The  first  entry  of  the  French  into  Brussels  was  in 
November  1792;  and  while  they  remained,  the  com- 
munity of  Dominicanesses  were  left  in  continual  alarm. 
First  they  were  compelled  to  supply  a  number  of 
French  soldiers  with  food  and  lodgings  for  three  or  four 
nights.  Then,  on  the  6th  of  March  1793,  a  body  of 
soldiers  with  their  officers  demanded  admittance  ;  but 
being  refused,  they  forcibly  entered,  plundered  various 
parts  of  the  house  of  provisions,  and  such  articles  of 
plate  as  they  happened  to  find ;  and  worse  than  all, 
sacrilegiously  carried  off  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  church, 
even  taking  the  sacred  ciborium  out  of  the  tabernacle. 
This  was  done  however  by  the  commanding  officer 
himself  with  much  apparent  reverence,  as  if  his  faith  and 
conscience  reproached  him  for  his  impious  act.  He  pre- 
viously deposited  the  sacred  particles  on  a  corporal,  and 
carefully  wiped  out  the  ciborium  with  a  mundatory. 
Indeed  the  behaviovu*  of  both  officers  and  men,  while  in 
the  convent,  was  tolerably  respectful.  The  French  fled, 
on  the  approach  of  the  Austrians ;  and  the  church  plate 
was  recovered,  though  much  battered  and  injured. 

On  the  21st  of  June   1794,   it  became  necessary  for 
these  religious  to  provide  for  their  safety  by  immmediate 


m  DOMINICANESSES  AT  BRUSSELS. 


flight.  They  first  took  refuge  at  the  college  of  the 
Fathers  of  their  order  at  Bornheim,  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles  from  Brussels ;  having  only  two  conveyances, 
which  were  appropriated  to  the  infirm  and  aged,  the 
rest  walking  over  hot  sand  in  a  burning  sun.  They 
remained  at  the  college  till  the  evening  of  June 
24th,  when  they  were  obliged  to  decamp  again. 
Their  confessor.  Rev.  T.  L.  Brittain,  had  come 
with  them  from  Brussels ;  and  now  proceeded 
with  them,  and  several  of  the  Dominican  Fathers 
in  two  small  vessels  to  Antwerp.  Thence  they  sailed 
to  Rotterdam,  and  arrived  there  on  the  29th,  after  nar- 
rowly escaping  being  drowned,  by  one  of  the  vessels 
springing  a  leak  in  the  night.  They  remained  at  Rot- 
terdam ten  days,  and  embarked  at  length  for  England 
in  an  American  vessel,  destitute  of  every  convenience. 
They  were  repeatedly  fired  at  by  foreign  vessels  on 
their  voyage,  but  happily  escaped  all  dangers,  and 
arrived  safe  in  the  Thames  July  16th,  1794.  They 
remained  in  London  seven  weeks,  when  a  generous  ofier 
was  made  to  them  of  an  ancient  mansion  of  the 
Berkeley  family,  called  Hartpury  Court,  situated  about 
six  miles  from  Gloucester.     It  then   belonged  to   the 


DOMINICANESSES  AT  BRUSSELS.  97 

present  Lady  Southwell,  and  her  sister,  the  late  Mrs. 
Robert  Canning.  This  they  joyfully  accepted,  with 
lively  gratitude  to  their  kind  benefactresses.  They  left 
London,  September  1,  1794,  and  reached  Hartpury 
Court  the  day  following.  In  that  venerable  abode  they 
remained  forty -five  years ;  and  would  gladly  have  con- 
tinued there,  had  not  the  old  house  become  so  decayed, 
as  to  be  pronounced  past  all  repairing.  They  removed 
in  1839  to  a  convent  newly  built  for  their  reception  at 
Atherstone,  in  Warwickshire,  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  the  Rosary  convent,  and  where  they  now 
remain. 


N 


VI. 

JESUITESSES. 
CONVENT  OF  JESUITESSES  AT  ST.  OMER. 

In  the  account  given  above  of  the  convent  of  Poor 
Clares  at  Gravelines,  it  was  mentioned  that  they  owed 
their  establishment  principally  to  the  zeal  of  a  pious 
lady,  Mrs.  Mary  Ward.  That  excellent  w^oman  how- 
ever did  not  remain  herself  among  them,  though  she 
had  previously  been  a  novice  in  a  French  convent  of 
Poor  Clares  at  St.  Omer's.  She  formed  a  project  of 
another  establishment  of  religious  women,  who  should 
be  bound  by  certain  vows,  but  without  enclosure  ;  and 
whose  principal  occupation  should  be  to  educate  young 
ladies.  This  she  attempted  by  the  advice  of  Father 
Roger  Lee,  and  other  Jesuits.  She  began  with  several 
young  ladies,  in  a  house  at  St.  Omer's,  about  the  year 
1603.  The  Jesuits  mainly  supported  their  cause,  and 
endeavoured  to  procure  their  establishment.  Hence 
they  were  called  Jesuitesses,  but  sometimes  also 
Wardists.  Many  objections,  however,  were  raised 
against  this  new  institution  ;  and  though  several  of  its 
members  went  to  Rome,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the 


Pope's  approbation,  they  could  never  succeed.  Their 
not  being  subject  to  enclosure  opened  the  door  to  many- 
abuses  ;  and  instances  were  enumerated  of  very  im- 
proper behaviour  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  members  in 
consequence.  They  were  sixteen  in  number  at  St. 
Omer's  in  the  year  1622.  In  1629,  they  had  planted 
themselves  in  Liege ;  but  meeting  no  countenance 
there,  they  removed  to  Munich.  Their  institute  how- 
ever was  condemned  and  abolished  by  Pope  Urban  VIIJ. 
January  13,  1630;  so  that  they  could  continue  after- 
wards only  as  a  private  congregation  under  simple  vows. 
In  this  character  however,  they  succeeded,  and  pro- 
duced admirable  fruits,  having  two  filiations  in  England, 
one  at  Hammersmith,  and  the  other  at  the  Bar  at  York ; 
which  latter  still  continues  usefully  employed  in  the 
education  of  young  ladies. 


VII. 

TERESIANS  OR  CARMELITES. 
1. 
TERESIANS  AT  ANTWERP. 
This  was  the  first  convent  of  English  Teresian  nuns 
established  on  the  continent.  Lady  Mary  Lord,  alias 
Roper,  daughter  of  Lord  Teynham  undertook  its  foun- 
dation, with  the  assistance  of  one  of  the  companions  of 
St.  Teresa,  the  blessed  Ann  of  St.  Bartholomew,  in 
whose  arms  indeed  that  saint  expired.  It  was  founded 
under  the  patronage  of  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Ann,  May  1, 
1619,  after  many  obstacles  had  been  surmounted  by  the 
zeal  and  perseverance  of  the  pious  foundress.  The  first 
prioress  was  Ann  Worsley,  who  presided  over  this  com- 
munity with  admirable  wisdom,  sweetness,  and  charity 
for  twenty-five  years,  having  been  re-elected  to  the 
ofiSce  of  prioress  every  three  years,  as  the  term  of  her 
superiority  expired.  Teresa  Ward  from  Poland,  and 
three  Flemish  sisters  from  Brussels  and  Louvain  became 
with  her  the  first  members.  Many  ladies  of  family  and 
fortune  were  inspired  to  renounce  all,  and  become  poor 
Carmelites  in  this  convent.     Some  of  them  were  after- 


TERESIANS  AT  LIERRE.  101 


wards  sent  out  to  Nieuenberg,  Bois-le-Duc,  and  Alost, 
where  they  continued  to  lead  lives  worthy  of  their  holy 
vocation.  The  best  known  of  these  to  English  Catholics 
was  Mrs.  Margaret  Wake,  who  died  in  the  odour  of 
sanctity,  in  the  convent  at  Antwerp,  on  the  21st  of 
June,  1678.  In  1624,  their  number  appears  to  have 
been  about  twenty. 

These  religious  felt,  in  common  with  all  their  pious 
sisters  in  other  communities,  the  dire  effects  of  the 
French  Revolution.  They  were  obliged  to  abandon 
their  beloved  convent,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1794.  They 
proceeded  to  Rotterdam,  and  arrived  in  London  on  the 
12th  of  July.  There  they  met  with  generous  protectors 
and  benefactors,  whom  divine  Providence  sent  to  their 
succour ;  many  of  whom  they  never  knew  before.  By 
favour  of  a  nobleman  of  distinguished  piety  and  charity, 
they  were  settled  at  Llanherne,  near  St.  Columb's,  in 
Cornwall,  where  they  have  ever  since  remained. 

2. 

TERESIANS  AT  LIERRE. 
After   the  mother-house  of  Carmelite  nuns   of  the 
English  nation  had  flourished  for  almost  thirty  years  at 


102  TERESIANS  AT  LIERRE. 


Antwerp,  a  colony  went  forth  from  it  to  form  a  second 
establishment  at  Lierre.  This  happened  in  the  year 
1648  ;  and  the  new  community  consisted  of  ten  of  the 
religious  sisters  from  Antwerp,  with  the  venerable 
Mothers  Margaret  and  Ursula,  both  of  the  Mostyn 
family^  The  establishment  fully  answered  the  ends  of 
its  institution.  The  community  lived  in  the  fervent 
practice  of  the  duties  of  their  austere  rule  ;  and  were 
rewarded  by  that  happiness,  and  those  consolations  of 
an  interior  life,  which  are  indescribable.  Thus  they 
continued,  till  the  approach  of  the  French  army  obliged 
them  to  fly  for  security  to  their  native  country.  They 
made  what  preparations  they  could,  at  a  very  short 
notice,  quitted  their  convent  on  the  23rd  of  June, 
1794,  and  arrived  safe  in  London  on  the  7th  of  July 
following.  From  their  first  landing  in  England,  they 
experienced  the  greatest  humanity  and  generosity. 
Under  the  patronage  of  a  worthy  baronet  they  were 
settled  first  at  Auckland,  St.  Helen's,  near  Durham. 
Thence  they  removed  in  1804  to  Cocken  Hall,  near 
Durham,  where  they  remained  till  1830,  when  they 
settled  at  Carmel  House,  Darlington. 


TERESIANS  AT  HOOGSTllAET.  103 


3. 

TERESIANS   AT   HOOGSTRAET. 

This   convent   of  English    Teresian   nuns    owed   its 
foundation   to  the  Countess  of  Hoogstraet.     She  pro- 
cured some  Carmelite  nuns  from  the  mother-house  at 
Antwerp,  for  this  new  establishment,  which  was  founded 
on  the   18th  of  August,    1678.     Her  eldest   daughter, 
Mary  Margaret,  took  the  habit  in  this  convent,   and 
made  her  profession    on    the    16th   of  October,    1680. 
This  lady  was  afterwards  chosen  superior,  in  which  she 
continued  many  years,  until  her  death  on   the  6th   of 
February,  1713.      Many  of  these  holy  religious  died  in 
high  repute  for  their  virtue  and  piety.     The  community 
continued  their  retired  and  happy  life,  undisturbed,  till 
the   anarchy   and   irreligion   produced    by   the   French 
Revolution.     They  were  compelled  to  quit  their  con- 
vent, in   the   morning  of  the  7th   of  July,   1794,   and 
arrived  in   London  very  early  in   the  morning   of  the 
13th,  with  their  chaplain.     They   were  received  with 
the  most  tender  affection  by  their  relatives  and  friends, 
and  with   compassion   and  kindness  by   the  people  in 
general,  who  gathered  around  them  in  great  numbers. 


104  CONCLUSION. 


Their  first  residence  in  England  was  at  Fryer's  Place, 
near  Acton,  Middlesex  ;  whence  they  removed  in  1800 
to  Canford  House,  near  Wimborn.  In  1828,  they 
settled  at  Torigny,  near  St.  Lo,  in  Normandy. 


CONCLUSION. 

In  the  foregoing  pages,  some  account  has  been  given 
of  every  English  religious  establishment  on  the  con- 
tinent, from  the  period  of  the  suppression  of  religious 
houses  in  England,  in  the  sixteenth  century.  If  some 
convents  now  in  England  are  not  here  noticed,  it  is 
either  on  account  of  their  not  having  been  established 
originally  for  English  subjects,  or  having  been  first 
founded  in  England  subsequently  to  the  French  Revo- 
lution. The  object  of  the  foregoing  pages  has  been  to 
preserve  in  a  collected  form  some  records  of  those 
venerable  establishments,  precious  monuments  of  the 
piety  of  our  ancestors ;  and  of  that  enduring  faith, 
which  when  persecuted  in  its  native  country,  quickly 
took  root  in '  foreign  soil,  and  there  flourished,  till  by 
the  merciful  decree  of  Heaven  it  was  happily  enabled  to 
live  again  in  its  own  land.     "  When  the  Lord  brought 


CONCLUSION.  105 


"  back  the  captivity  of  Sion,  we  became  like  men  com- 
"  forted.  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us : 
*'  we  are  become  joyfuL  Going  they  went  and  wept, 
*'  casting  their  seeds.  But  coming  they  shall  come 
"  with  joyfulness,  carrying  their  sheaves."    Ps.  cxxv. 


THE    END. 


Bacon  and  Kinnebrook,  Mercury  Office,  Norwicli. 


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